


Missing in the Mist

by Yuki_White



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Cousins, Drama, Establishing a Home Overground, Flashbacks, Frisk Misses Their Family, Frisk Uses Sign Language, Frisk is Deaf, Frisk is a Mage, Frisk just wants their Family back, Frisk just wants their sister to be rescued, Frisk's Family Loved Them, Frisk's Family were Murdered, Frisk's family dies, Frisk-centric, Gen, Gender Dysphoria, Gender-Neutral Frisk, Gender-Neutral Pronouns, It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better, Kidnapping, Law, Mages, Magic, Monsterphobia, Mystery, Not Entirely Linear Storytelling, OC-centric eventually, Original Character Death(s), Original Character(s), Orphanage, POV Third Person, Police, Racism, Sans decides to rescue Frisk's sister, Sans is a Private Investigator, Sans-centric, Scotland, Social Services, Social Workers, Time Travel, United Kingdom, discrimination against disabilities
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-30
Updated: 2018-02-17
Packaged: 2018-08-12 00:01:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 26,387
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7912606
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yuki_White/pseuds/Yuki_White
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The monsters were finally free. But, unfortunately, Frisk and their friends were separated by the police, who locked the monsters up and handed Frisk over to social services. The monsters had to achieve Full British Citizenship by proving they had lived in the UK for thousands of years, even though the only family of mages, Frisk's family, in the whole country who knew of their existence have been murdered or kidnapped. With their family gone, their sister missing and Toriel not even recognised as a person yet, Frisk's future was uncertain. </p><p>Toriel only wanted all the best for Frisk. Sans begrudgingly felt bad for the kid and, maybe, might want to find their missing sister, Mist. </p><p>Frisk just wanted their family back.</p><p>(Formerly named Misttale: The Tale of Frisk and Mist.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Frisk - One End is Another Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! Welcome to my story.  
> In this story Frisk comes originally from a large loving family of magicians who are all murdered at the beginning of the story. It is set in the Scottish High Lands. 
> 
> I'm British, but I live in England, so I apologise for any inaccuracies. However, I have visited all the areas I mention, spoken to Scottish people, and researched as best I can. I am also cis female so if I depict Frisk's journey as gender neutral inaccurately I apologise. I also happen not to know any sign language. This story has definitely been an adventure to write!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frisk discovers that their sister has been kidnapped. A few weeks later their home is attacked.
> 
> Warning: Character Death and kidnapping.

Frisk was there when their parents got the phone call.

 

“Hello?” they watched their mum form the word with her lips, though Frisk heard no sound escape it, as she answered the old corded phone. Her expression was tense as she listened to the voice on the other end, twisting the cord around her finger nervously.

 

Their family generally wasn’t interested in having the most recent tech, having only that which was necessary. Except for things like their specialised video phone or nanna’s television, since she was old and often tired and needed to be able to sit down and rest. The phone was in the hallway between the livingroom and kitchen. Frisk was in the livingroom reading up on ‘Monster Lore’ as they watched their mum talk on the phone through the open door. They had started their lessons a few weeks ago and were really excited about learning all about magic and its history.

 

Monsters were a part of that history, although they were apparently trapped away under Mount. Ebott. But there was always a risk they might escape. And after being trapped under the earth for thousands of years the monsters might very well want revenge on the humans for trapping them. Frisk felt bad for them really - trapped under the earth unable to see the sun, moon or stars - but at the same time afraid. The monsters were depicted as having far more flexible and enduring magic than any human could ever possess, humans’ magic was stronger but their magic was short lived and extremely draining to use. And not many humans had magic anymore anyway. Frisk and their family were the sole remaining humans in the entire United Kingdom with magic. It was their duty, as it had been for generations, to protect the humans if the monsters managed to escape and decided to exact revenge.

 

“I’m Mist Ebott’s mum. Why? What’s happened? Is she OK?” their mum’s lips started moving faster and Frisk had to really concentrate to understand what she was saying. They leaned forward in their chair concentrating, furrowing their brow in concern.

 

“Oh,” their mum really didn’t seem to know what to say. Shock coloured her face. After a short silence where she just seemed to be listening to the voice on the other end of the phone she turned toward the kitchen and called, “Brisk! Brisk, come over here. Please.”

 

“What’s wrong, May?” their dad exited the kitchen, a potato mid-peel and peeler held in his hands.

 

“I… It’s the police. Misty… Misty’s gone missing. They’re asking if we’ve heard anything. I… I don’t –” and then there were tears running down their mum’s face. Their dad put down the potato and the peeler on the table the corded telephone sat on and bracketed their mum in a hug. Frisk couldn’t make out anymore of what either of them were saying because their dad had his back to them and hid their mum from their view.

 

Frisk felt the cold tendrils of fear travel down their body. Their sister was missing? They chewed their lip and sucked in their breathe trying not to cry. They weren’t going to cry. Misty would want them to stay strong for their family. Nanna is going to be absolutely devastated. Aunt Whisk, Uncle Graham, Auncle Tamarisk (their dad’s sibling who was neither a boy nor a girl just like they were!), Aunt Freya and all their extended family of cousins who they all lived with in this estate would surely be really upset and worried too.

 

Frisk couldn’t afford to cry.

 

* * *

 

A strange letter had arrived. Their oldest cousin, Twist, had been the one to find it on the welcome matt.

 

Frisk hadn’t been told about it or allowed to see it but they had overseen their older cousins, Deist, Risk and Gist, gossiping about it. It was frustrating being the youngest in the family, at only 7 years of age, so the only one not allowed to know these things. Especially considering they were the heir, since Misty left to pursue her dream of becoming a teacher. Even 10 year old Bisk was more informed than they were. It wasn't fair. It was their sister who was missing!

 

From what they could pick up from their cousins, the letter was some sort of threat.

 

Their cousins seemed worried.

 

* * *

 

It was their nanna who eventually ended up spilling the beans. They were sat on her knee, as she was knitting a quilt, quietly watching Countryfile on her old box television. She’d gone misty eyed and put down her knitting needles to sign to them that Misty had always sat and watched Countryfile with her like this. Frisk had signed back that they were sure she would again once the police found her. Nanna had smiled tightly.

 

Then she’d picked up her knitting needles and resumed knitting, eyes fixated on the television screen. She mumbled under her breathe, seeming to forget entirely that Frisk could read lips really well, “I doubt we’ll ever get her back from those horrid people. The police are absolutely useless. My beautiful granddaughter, stolen from us…” Silent tears crept down nanna’s face. Frisk pretended not to see them. They stared at the screen and held their breath, determined not to cry.

 

Their sister had been kidnapped.

 

* * *

 

Frisk ran up the mountain, dodging between trees, away from the terrifying smell of smoke.

 

It had been the early hours of the morning when their mum had rushed into their room and jostled them awake. She had franticly signed at them that they needed to get dressed and go out the back of the house into the garden – furthest away from the front. She had quickly dragged out their warm stripped purple jumper, jeans, underwear, socks and spare shoes (since their normal ones were sat by the front door) and helped them dress quickly. If they lived in a warmer country maybe they might have been able to just run straight outside, but their coat was by the front door and the Cairngorm Mountains were regularly cold and windy (and often rainy, though tonight seemed to be rarely clear) for much of the year except the summer months. So, they quickly dressed.

 

Their mum grabbed them in a quick hug, running her hands comfortingly through their mid-length brown hair. Frisk held tightly to her. They knew why they were to go to the back garden. They had been prepared in case this ever happened. Their house was being attacked. Then their mum was letting them go and signing at them that she was just going to wake up their cousin Bisk and then she would be right out – Uncle Graham, Aunt Freyja and their other cousins under 16 would be out soon too.

 

All the non-magic or magic users under 16 were to go outside to the back garden where they’d be safe. Even though nanna was old she was still a skilled magic user so would be fighting too. Frisk knew all this, but still felt that all of them should be together, hiding or fighting.

 

They ran down the stairs and along the corridor, glancing back over their shoulder where they could see flashes of light and shadows moving against the wall from the dining room doorway, which was the first room you entered after the entryway. Their heart was in their throat. They wished they knew more than just magic theory and magic history. They were so useless! Desperately they dragged the sliding door open to the back garden and ran down it to the end. Glancing around they saw nobody else out there yet.

 

Where was everyone? Frisk hoped they’d get there soon and not get caught in the crossfire.

 

They had been stood out in the fresh air with the beginning of the thick forest that covered most of Mount. Ebott behind them, jumping from one leg to another in anxiety for about quarter of an hour when it had happened.

 

The whole house exploded in a whirl of fiery flames that climbed up fifty feet in the air. Frisk could feel the overpowering heat beat at their vulnerable skin from where they stood. Initially, they were relieved that their family’s garden was so large or they might have been burnt by the tower of flames.

 

It was as they saw their house collapsing in on itself that they realised. No one could have survived that. The whole house had exploded in flames and collapsed in on itself. Frisk was outside but their whole family had been inside of that house. For a long while they had felt rooted to the spot just staring in horror at what had been their home but was now their family’s deathbed.

 

It was only when they saw the distant lights of the police cars that they had been able to move. Their whole family was dead or missing. But… It was their family’s duty to guard the mountain in preparation for the day the monsters would escape, in case they wanted to exact revenge. Some humans had attacked their home and some other humans (or maybe the same humans?) taken their sister so maybe they shouldn’t care about protecting humans anymore. But Frisk knew that not all humans were like that – like the police who had been trying to help find Misty and were on their way now to help their family, even if they were too late.

 

Frisk was still alive so it was still their duty to guard the mountain. They couldn’t do that in an orphanage or in foster care. Maybe they could hope that Misty would be found (rescued) quickly but… What if the monsters escaped before that?

 

No. Frisk couldn’t leave Mount. Ebott unguarded. Even if they couldn't use any magic yet, it was still their duty to guard the mountain.

 

So, it was as they saw the lights of the police cars beginning to park in front of their house that they turned and ran into the forest and up the mountain. They were going to work some way out to survive and stay there guarding the mountain. They were determined.

 

Then they fell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Ebott Family Tree:
> 
> Fist III (F) [75] and Norman (M) [died 5 yrs pre. Ch.1 at 81] Ebott
> 
> Brisk (M) [55] and May (F) [48] Ebott  
> Frisk V (N) [7] Ebott, Mist II (F) [22] Ebott
> 
> Whisk III (F) [50] and Graham (M) [60] Macduff-Ebott  
> Twist IV (M) [23] Macduff-Ebott, Gist II (F) [15] Macduff-Ebott
> 
> Tamarisk (N) [38] and Freya (F) [37] Ebott  
> Bisk III (F) [10] Ebott, Risk VII (M) [14] Ebott, Deist IV (F) [18] Ebott


	2. Interlude - Mist - A New Beginning is a New Perserverance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Misty tells the tale of gaining Frisk as sibling, and her journey of self discovery.
> 
> Warning: Character Kidnapping, slight Gender Dysphoria described.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I hope you enjoyed Chapter 1.
> 
> Chapter 2 is from Misty's perspective and is set before Chapter 1. Chapter 2 ends where Chapter 1 begins. Chapter 2 is much longer than Chapter 1 but also as it covers a greater quantity of time and subjects.
> 
> Frisk is gender neutral in this story, but initially they are perceived as female, as they are afab, so their pronouns change part way through the chapter when they come out to Misty.
> 
> To clarify, I included Misty's Sixth Form A level study in Secondary School because many Secondary Schools have a Sixth Form sector.
> 
> Enjoy! Read, Review and leave Kudos, they really encourage me. Thank you!

It was normal, expected even, that the Ebott family didn’t work normal jobs. Their spouses could if they wanted, but the direct descendants of the Ebotts were expected to devote their lives to guarding Mount Ebott. They were so devoted to this task through the generations that the mountain had even ended up named after them.

 

But Mist, well, she thought that was silly. Even at 5 years old she thought that was silly. She could work a job and guard the mountain at the same time; she had such a large family to share the duty with anyway, she saw no reason why she should have to devote all of her time to guarding the mountain. She didn’t know what she wanted to do but she knew she wanted to work a real job and earn real money like the coins she handled in class.

 

So, it was that Brisk and May found their daughter chasing dream job after dream job. For a few weeks she’d be convinced she wanted to be a vet – “Look at that poor doggy, daddy!” Then suddenly she’d want to be a world famous actress – “Mrs. Wilson said that I was really good in the Christmas play this year.” Or an aeroplane pilot. Or a cook. Or a doctor. Or a counsellor.

 

Brisk never took it too seriously, as she never stuck to one dream for any length of time, he was sure this whole job idea was just a phase. Once she grew up she would stop with all this job nonsense and settle down with the family. It was clear to him. Their family’s duty was an important one, after all.

 

Misty may not have known what she wanted to do with her life but she was sure she wanted to do something. So, she studied hard in school and she did consistently well. Her teachers often praised her and her parents, although not accepting any mention of work, were always exceptionally proud and supportive of all her achievements. Misty was a well-loved single child.

 

* * *

 

She was just starting fourth year of Secondary School when the unthinkable happened. She was eating dinner with her family. Cousin Twist sat across from her picking at his food moodily (there was some kind of love drama going on in his life was all Misty could gather). Cousin Deist sat beside her chattering excitedly about her first few weeks of Secondary School, with Cousin Gist and Cousin Risk listening to her enviously. Auncle Tamarisk and Aunt Freya were fussing over Cousin Bisk as she was stubborn with her food. Her own parents sat nearest to nanna and grampa, with her aunts, uncle and auncle sat between her and them.

 

She tried not to miss the days she was young enough to sit next to them, even though that was well over 10 years ago. She was certainly not a child without love or affection from her parents but she often wished that all these traditions that they followed weren’t so strict that she was always so far away from her parents when they ate. On television it was always at dinner time that parents talked to their children about their lives, but her family was certainly not like that. Seating arrangement was entirely sorted by age.

 

It was then her whole life changed. Her dad asked for quiet – staring at Deist meaningfully – because they had an announcement to make. Then her mum stood up. They clasped hands and looked at one another adoringly. Misty couldn’t help but smile at how much her parents loved each other.

 

“I know this is going to come as a bit of a shock. It was definitely a shock for us! I mean, I’m 41! I know that’s not old but still, it’s a bit older than we thought possible.” Mum laughed nervously but everyone merely exchanged curious looks. “OK… So… Long story short, I’m pregnant!”

 

Misty stared at her mum in surprise. Her mum was pregnant?

 

Her dad’s face erupted into a big grin. “We’re going to have a baby!”

 

For a moment, Misty was upset. Her parents were going to have a baby that was going to take up more of their time. Auncle Tamarisk was patting her dad on the back; Aunt Whisk and Uncle Graham were congratulating her mum. Aunt Freya looked across at her and smiled at her happily, “Isn’t that great, Mist, you’re going to have a little sibling to take care of.”

 

At first she was going to say that that really wasn’t a good thing _at all_. But then she realised, Aunt Freya was _right_. She was going to have a baby sibling! They could have so much fun! She could teach them so much. She loved helping out other people in her class with their studies, watching them gradually get better until they’re doing great by themselves. She had her cousins but they were never interested in learning new things, except Cousin Twist but he was older than her anyway. Now she’d have a sibling of her own that she could help learn and grow in the same way. This was great!

 

“Yeah, it is. Thanks, Aunt Freya.”

 

* * *

 

Misty was there when Frisk was born. Well, she was right outside the double doors where her mum, dad and a couple of midwifes were. Her mum had been in labour for a fair few hours and that, coupled with the drama of getting to Aberdeen Hospital all the way from where they lived at the foot of Mount Ebott in the Cairngorm Mountains, meant Misty was exhausted. She was slumped in an uncomfortable hospital seat studying for a Maths test at the end of the week when a nurse came out and told her that she could come in and see the mother and baby, if she liked.

 

She followed the nurse into the room beyond with its whitewashed walls, her mum and dad turned to smile at her. There was a bundle of blankets in her mum’s arms that was crying loudly, she held the bundle out to her, “Would you like to hold her?”

 

As she took the baby from her mum’s arms her dad helped her position her hands correctly. Almost instantly the baby stopped crying. Misty smiled softly at her little sister. The baby stared at her with wide almond eyes. Misty knew then she would always love this baby.

 

“You two look so happy together,” her mum mumbled tearfully. “I love you both so much!” She held out her arms and Misty walked to her mum allowing herself to hugged, if at a slightly awkward angle.

 

“Yeah,” her dad put his hand on her shoulder. “This baby is a bringer of happiness… I think Frisk suits her perfectly.”

 

“Mist and Frisk… Oh, that sounds perfect. I love it.”

 

* * *

 

Frisk was a rambunctious child. Curious and stubborn, Misty loved her to her very core. Every day after school she came home and played with her, outside in the garden, inside with the family toys. She helped change her and wash her. Some nights her parents would read her to sleep, some she would. Within a few months, however, it became apparent that Frisk wasn’t learning at the same rate as other children, she didn’t respond when spoken to, was unusually quiet, and seemed to really struggle to socialise well with any children her age.

 

Their parents took Frisk to the doctor’s surgery to get her checked out; maybe she was just developing differently, maybe not. The doctor did some tests then referred Frisk to an audiologist. Eventually it was found that Frisk was deaf.

 

May and Brisk didn’t seem to know what to do. The rest of their family seemed to be equally at a loss. For a while they carried on as before ignoring the problem, but then Misty sat them down. If she had to be the sensible one then so be it.

 

“Frisk is deaf, not stupid,” she told them looking them both pointedly in the eye. “She can still be a brilliant, joyful person even if she can’t hear. I’m going to learn sign language and read to her just like before using sign language. Then she’ll learn sign language, how to read lips and how to read. It may take her a bit longer but… I know she’ll be just fine.” Misty nodded confidently.

 

Her parents certainly seemed to feel embarrassed about the drama they’d been making. It was a big deal but not as much as they'd been making it out to be – there were lots of people in the world who were deaf just like Frisk. After the initial drama, Misty quickly found that it wasn’t just her who was learning sign language for Frisk but her whole family, from 4 year old Cousin Bisk to her 80 year old Grampa Norman, though Nanna Fist certainly seemed to be picking it up faster than he was. For a few months, the whole family was speaking and signing back and forth constantly. Misty thought it was brilliant.

 

Her parents adored her even more for how much she loved her sister. But Misty didn’t do it for them, she did it for Frisk. And she did it because she actually liked doing all these things and watching her sister grow. She loved her baby sister.

 

* * *

 

Frisk was 2 and a half, Misty nearing 18 and in her final year of Secondary School, when their grampa died. Misty wanted to but knew she couldn’t afford to cry. Her parents, Aunts, Uncle and Auncle were devastated. Nanna just seemed to sink into herself. “We have to stay strong for them,” she told Frisk signing along. “We can cry later.” She didn’t think Frisk really knew what was going on but it was comforting saying her thoughts out loud to someone.

 

Norman Ebott’s funeral was a small family affair. They all wore black and marched behind dad, Uncle Graham, Auncle Tamarisk and Aunt Whisk who were all carrying their grampa’s coffin. They lowered him into the grave that had been dug ready for him, right next to his parents-in-law, laid white roses and threw dirt on his coffin. The local reverend said a few words then invited any of them to speak. Nanna started to speak but suddenly broke down, tears running down her face. Dad and Auncle Tamarisk put their arms around her comfortingly. They had to cut the funeral short because the weather became too bad for them to stay outside any longer. Frisk held her hand the whole walk back to the house, lending her strength.

 

* * *

 

It was just a normal night a couple of weeks later, Misty was signing and reading The Little Prince to Frisk. Frisk was listening attentively, eyes fixated on her hands, but sometimes glancing up at her lips. She had been picking sign language up pretty well. Misty knew Frisk was a bright child. Misty was midway through the story of the fox and the Prince when it suddenly dawned on her. Misty loved helping others learn and watching them grow and change. She wanted to be a teacher. It all seemed so clear to her now.

 

The next day, she went and spoke to her tutor about it. She decided she wanted to study a subject then do a PGDE to qualify as a teacher. She wasn’t quite sure yet what age group she wanted to teach. After talking to her tutor about it for a while she decided she wanted to study Physics, which she had been studying for A level. She had always found working out the why of the world, and the universe, so intensely interesting. She applied to 5 different universities; she put Edinburgh as her top choice and Dundee as her second.

 

The first person she told about her decision was Frisk. She was really too young to understand these things but Misty wanted her little sister to be the first to know. She was sat next to her on her bed, which had little trains running across it – she really seemed to have something against the princess duvet they’d bought her – and was reading to her when suddenly Frisk turned to her.

 

“What’s up?” Frisk signed at her, tilting her head curiously.

 

Misty smiled tightly; Frisk was such an intuitive person. “Can I tell you a secret?” she signed back, but she stopped speaking aloud, just mouthed her words instead. Sign language was really helpful for secret conversations.

 

“Sure,” Frisk nodded her head along with her hands.

 

“I’m going to be a teacher. Kind of like what we do, but with a whole class. But I need to go away for a bit to university to study to be able to do that.” For a moment a sad expression crossed Frisk’s face but she quickly wiped it away.

 

“That’s great.” Misty gave Frisk a hug, pulling her close to herself.

 

When she managed to pull herself away she signed, “I’ll be home for holidays like Christmas, Easter and summer and you can call me anytime. Promise.”

 

Frisk looked somewhat reassured. “You won’t forget about me?” she couldn’t help but ask.

 

“Of course not. Never. You’re the only one in the whole world that’s like you. I couldn’t forget about you if I wanted to. I love you.”

 

Frisk smiled genuinely. “I’ll call you often.”

 

* * *

 

Dad took it a lot worse than Frisk. He shouted and raged, “You don’t need to go away to university and study! You’re an Ebott. You're the heir! It’s your duty to guard this mountain. You don’t think we taught you magic for you squander it like this. You have magic when other humans don’t! It's your duty to protect them!”

 

Mum sighed and seemed somehow unsurprised.

 

“My magic isn’t exactly the most useful in a fight really, though, is it? I’m no better off than any other human in a real battle,” Misty explained calmly. Dad looked to be ready to intercept but she cut him off. “Besides, there are plenty of people here to guard the mountain. You can always call me if anything goes wrong. I’m not even planning on leaving the country.”

 

“You’re not useless in a fight-”

 

“I am. This is what I want to do, dad. Think about it. I’m great with Frisk. Teaching, it’s not just what I want to do, it’s what I’m supposed to do.”

 

The argument lasted for weeks, a constant battle of wills. Brisk willed Misty to give up on her dream, but Misty was determined to follow them through.

 

When she finally got her results and an email from Edinburgh University telling her she’d managed to get in her dad gave her a big hug. He didn’t want her to go and thought she shouldn’t but he was still ever so proud of her for managing to get in.

 

“I’m going,” she insisted. His shoulders tensed.

 

May put a hand on his shoulder and shook her head. “Let her go,” she signed so Misty couldn’t hear her.

 

Brisk pulled away from his daughter and held her shoulders delicately. He stared at her like it was the last time he’d ever see her. “I know.”

 

* * *

 

University was incredible. Edinburgh was so utterly different to what she was used to. Misty had always lived out in the middle of nowhere surrounded by nature, mountains and her family. Here there was none of those things. She missed them. But she found that she was also happy there. She branched out and made many new friends and learned many new things – and not only about Physics.

 

Even so, as fun as university life was, Misty often found herself looking forward to the times when Frisk would call her and they’d chat. Their parents had invested in specialised phones that they could video call one another through, they even flashed red when someone was calling, which meant if Misty ever called Frisk she’d know. She often found that Frisk and she would be chatting for over an hour.

 

Misty’s new friends found her phone strange so she often ended up explaining that her younger sister was deaf. People were always amazed when they found out she knew sign language, but she didn’t appreciate the pity in their eyes for Frisk. Frisk was bright and cheerful; being deaf wouldn’t hold her back at all.

 

Coming home for Christmas the first time was a relief. She never thought that it would be but she just missed her little sister, and her parents, nanna, all her cousins and their parents, terribly. When she arrived at the train station her dad was there to pick her up. He asked her how things had gone, just like she’d always dreamed he would do about her school days when she was younger. She babbled on excitedly about university the whole way home.

 

They’d held out on putting up the decorations on the Christmas tree for her to be there. She was exhausted but pulled herself together enough to help put all the baubles on the tree. Risk and Gist kept on bickering over who was to put up what. Risk’s little sister, Bisk, kept on following them around and copying them, trying to be included in her older brother and cousin’s games. Twist seemed to only half be paying attention to the tree decorating he was doing, too busy texting his girlfriend. Deist just laughed cheerfully at Risk, Gist and Bisk’s antics and helped them with putting up baubles they were struggling with for some reason or another. They all did this while signing along; Frisk didn’t join in but they didn’t purposefully exclude her. She was sat down on the floor and playing with a couple of plastic baubles, throwing them up in the air and catching them again.

 

“Hey, Frisk,” Misty came and sat down beside her little sis. “Missed you.”

 

Frisk dropped the baubles on the floor to reply, “Missed you too.”

 

* * *

 

“What do you want for your birthday, Frisk?” Misty signed down the telephone. She’d been at university for a year and a half now and had settled into a routine well. She lived with a couple of easy going friends, who she loved to pieces, but often nagged at to clean up after themselves more often. “I saw this cute little dress. I was thinking of buying it for you for your birthday.”

 

Frisk pulled a face but didn’t say anything. Misty furrowed her brow in concern.

 

“What’s wrong?” she asked. Pretending there was nothing wrong never solved anything.

 

Frisk shrugged. Then shook her head. “I don’t know how to explain it.”

 

“Try,” Misty encouraged them.

 

Frisk sighed then slowly began to sign. “Stuff at school has made me confused. If I want to play house I have to play with the girls, so I tell them I’m a girl. If I want to play tag I have to play with the boys, so I tell them I’m a boy. The teacher pulled me aside and told me I shouldn’t keep lying to everyone because lying is wrong and put me in the naughty corner. But I really thought about it and I don’t think I was lying… Or maybe I was never telling the truth.” Frisk sighed again. “Does that make sense?”

 

“I think so,” Misty nodded contemplatively. “Is this about lying or is this about being a boy or a girl? If you want to find the answer you need to get to the root cause.”

 

“I think it’s about being a boy or a girl…” There was a long pause where Frisk seemed to be collecting her thoughts. “I don’t really feel like either. Or I feel like both at the same time. It’s hard to explain.”

 

“A bit like Auncle Tamarisk, maybe?” Misty suggested cautiously. She’d never questioned her gender so really didn’t know what to do here.

 

“Yeah, I think so,” Frisk nodded decidedly.

 

“OK. Do you want me to call you them, they, their like I do with Auncle Tamarisk or are you fine with keeping things as they are?”

 

“I feel like I’m lying when you call me she, her… I just don’t think it’s really me.” Frisk scrunched up their eyes like they were going to cry.

 

“It’s OK. You’re OK. So, you’re not a boy or a girl. That’s fine. You can be whatever gender you want to be. Auncle Tamarisk is agender but there are lots of other types of gender neutral. You’re still young, though, you don’t need to instantly know all this stuff. You’re only 4, nearly 5. Just take your time. Be honest and don’t pretend. You’re still my little sib, Frisk, no matter what gender you are.”

 

Frisk smiled, looking relieved.

 

* * *

 

In the end Misty bought Frisk a painting set for their birthday. They were bright and creative and it might be a good way for them to express themselves. Frisk loved it, texting love hearts that formed a massive heart shape on Misty’s phone. She laughed. Same old Frisk.

 

* * *

 

Misty graduated Edinburgh University with Upper Second Class Honours. Her mum and dad looked so proud. They took lots of photos and even recorded her receiving her diploma. Frisk ran up and gave her a gigantic hug after the service was over, grabbing her cap and throwing it in the air for her and catching it again seamlessly.

 

“My daughter’s going to be a Primary School teacher,” her dad told anyone who would listen. Her mum laughed and held his hand affectionately.

 

Her whole family sent her lots of cards and graduation presents. Her parents took her and Frisk out for a celebration meal at Sushiya. They tried various sushi and laughed at each other’s expressions of delight and disgust. Dad really didn’t like soy sauce. Mum like the seaweed wrapped sushi. Frisk loved everything.

 

It was the best day.

 

* * *

  

PGDE was hard. If she thought third year was hard it was nothing on PGDE. Misty felt perpetually tired but she was managing. She was going to be a Primary School teacher, she was determined. She called Frisk as often as she could but it was difficult finding the time. Frisk understood. They still made sure to text each other often.

 

She came home late one night from the University library to the house oddly silent. The front door wasn’t even locked. There were scratches all around the lock that looked suspicious but in the dark of the night could be her imagination. Cautiously she tiptoed into the house. She felt oddly on edge. She didn’t dare turn the light on in case there was a thief in the house that she would alert to her presence. She went to unlock her phone and type in 999 when she realised the battery had just run out.

 

Taking a deep breathe she clutched her useless phone to her chest and slipped further into the house. Glancing around her, she saw nothing out of place. The kitchen was as it should be. She walked on to the livingroom. She stopped in the doorway as she thought she saw something move behind the couch. Was it a monster after her because she was a human with magic? But they were still trapped underground – her family would have let her know if they had escaped. Unless they were all dead. She shook her head and told herself she was being ridiculous.

 

Suddenly she was grabbed from behind, a hand slapped over her mouth muffling her terrified scream. She dropped her phone and used her magic to make fire appear in her hands reaching back to touch the person behind her. They jerked away suddenly.

 

Misty lurched forward in an attempt to run for a window and escape through there as the door was blocked. But there were people pulling themselves out of hiding and blocking the windows. There was no escape. Misty looked around desperately for some way out.

The guy behind her caught up to her in an instant and grabbed her arms pulling them behind her. She struggled but she really hadn’t been lying when she argued that she wasn’t cut out for fighting.

 

One of the people in front of her walked calmly forwards, his shoes clacking against the hardwood floor. He pushed a cloth over her mouth and nose. She tried to hold her breath and struggle but the person behind her had her in too tight a hold. After a while she couldn’t manage to hold her breath any longer and had to start breathing. She coughed, a smell akin to cleaning products or paint stripper filling her nose.

 

As Misty began to lose consciousness she thought desperately of Frisk, wishing she’d spent more time with them. She thought she’d have time after she finished her teacher training. Time was peculiar like that.

 

Then everything was black.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Ebott Family Tree:
> 
> Fist III (F) [75] and Norman (M) [died 5 yrs pre. Ch.1 at 81] Ebott
> 
> Brisk (M) [55] and May (F) [48] Ebott  
> Frisk V (N) [7] Ebott, Mist II (F) [22] Ebott
> 
> Whisk III (F) [50] and Graham (M) [60] Macduff-Ebott  
> Twist IV (M) [23] Macduff-Ebott, Gist II (F) [15] Macduff-Ebott 
> 
> Tamarisk (N) [38] and Freya (F) [37] Ebott  
> Bisk III (F) [10] Ebott, Risk VII (M) [14] Ebott, Deist IV (F) [18] Ebott
> 
> NB (a) The ages they have been given above are the ages they are in Chapter 1, and at the end of Chapter 2. For their ages when Frisk is born simply subtract 7 from the age given (except Norman, just subject 2 for him). If you need to know for certain for some reason feel free to ask me, I do know all of their ages.
> 
> (b) In case you're wondering Norman chose to take on Fist's family name. Ebott isn't his birth surname.


	3. Sans - Freedom is Only the Beginning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The monsters are finally free. Only to encounter some unexpected problems, and some unexpected help.
> 
> Warning: Police. Mentioned Character deaths and kidnappings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading my story so far!
> 
> In a way, the previous two chapters were more like Prologues because they are set before the game and the majority of the rest of the story is set after the True Pacifist Ending. Although, I am planning various flashbacks. Just to make the character deaths just that much sadder as you realise how nice they were.
> 
> I do live in the UK but not in Scotland, I have merely visited. I have tried to keep this fairly accurate and somewhat realistic, but the legalities of the monsters becoming legal citizens isn't the main focus of this story so I'm sorry if I begin to breeze over that too much. I'm not very knowledgeable in laws and such also, so I will probably make many mistakes. I'm sorry if some characters are a bit quiet; I'm not great a writing big group conversations, too much to keep track of!
> 
> Enjoy! Read, review and leave kudos. Its all much appreciated!

Seeing the sun rise for the first time was the single most incredible moment of Sans’ entire life. The dark night sky gave way to vivid fiery colours that spread across much of the horizon. It was symbolic, in a way, that the sun was rising and burning away the darkness, just like Frisk had come down to the Underground and befriended everybody and set everybody free. Frisk was like the sun, the Underground had been the night, but Frisk had come to bring them all the daytime.

 

This time anyway.

 

When his brother ran off to meet with the humans he had seen Sans purposefully turned and followed after him - using a shortcut, of course. He’d seen the two humans wearing identical dark blue with bright yellow over coats too so could easily shortcut over there. He stepped forward and let his magic take him to where he wanted to be, like slipping into a river and allowing the current to take him to his destination. Manipulation magic, time and dimension magic, was as easy as breathing to Sans.

 

When he arrived to see the two humans holding guns aimed at his brother his first instinct was to attack them. Clearly the last vicious reset had had more of an effect on him than he'd like to think. But he pulled himself back, reminding himself that for humans attack has always been the best defence. And they must certainly be feeling defensive with a large skeleton monster suddenly running up to them. Especially if they didn’t know anything about monsters in the first place. _They must feel a bit like they just walked into a horror film_ , Sans mused thinking of that particular branch of human media that he’d seen. Humans seemed to have some strong misconceptions about monsters.

 

“Hey,” Sans’ deep voice reverberated around the clearing. The humans jumped in surprise, one turning their gun on him. Their hands were shaking. “Sorry if we scared you. Do you mind putting the guns down? You’re gunna scare my brother.” He nodded meaningfully in Papyrus’ direction.

 

“Scared them! I scared you?!” Papyrus directed the question at the humans but continued before they even had the chance to reply. “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to scare anyone! Though I can understand why they would be startled, what with how magnificent I am!” Papyrus posed with his scarf flapping majestically in the wind. The humans lowered their guns feeling less threatened.

 

“Who – what are you?” asked the one closest to Sans.

 

“It’s a bit complicated to explain if you don’t already know. Basically, we’re monsters – nothing like the ones you have in your films. We’ve been trapped in this mountain we’re now stood on for a few thousand years. We don’t mean any harm. We just want to live outside. Out of the mountain. Overground.”

 

Papyrus nodded emphatically. “Indeed, brother! Couldn’t have said it better myself! As to the ‘who’, as I explained before – but I understand if you were merely too blown away by my majesty – I am the Great Papyrus, friend extraordinaire! And this is my brother Sans.”

 

The humans stared at them in shock.

 

“We’re patellar-ing you the truth. Not pulling your funny bone, promise.” Papyrus’ eye twitched in irritation, but he abstained from reacting in concern of frightening the new humans.

 

The human nearest Sans gave a slight giggle, his relaxed joking nature setting her more at ease. “I… um… I’m Brenda and this is Matthew. We work for the… er, human… police. A human house at the edge of this mountain exploded a few days ago. We’re scouring the mountain because we have reason to believe someone managed to… er… escape the situation. The mountain is dangerous. They could have fallen and hurt themselves. So, we’re looking for them to help them if they are in need,” Brenda explained, seemingly embellishing for their understanding. Sans liked her.

 

“A human! A fallen human! Why, I am friends with a fallen human like that! Frisk fell into the Underground with us and freed us! We can bring you to them if you like! I’m sure they would not want anybody to be worrying about them!” Papyrus told them, instantly trusting their motives.

 

Sans sighed. Well, he’d said it and there was no taking it back. Who knows, maybe honesty really would be the best policy.

 

“Frisk? Yes, that might be them. They were a member of the family attacked, right?” Brenda turned to Matthew.

 

“Er…”  Matthew pulled out black booklet from his jacket pocket and flipped a few pages. “Yeah. Frisk Ebott the fifth. Sheesh. They’re only 7,” he pulled a sympathetic face. “Poor thing.”

 

Brenda’s eyes widened in shock. “There was only one set of footprints, though. That’d mean…”

 

“Yeah. Well. I was working as their family’s correspondent. You know. On that missing person case?” Brenda nodded. “Well, who knows how that might turn out…” He shrugs helpless and sighs. “It’s a grim day when you think it might be fortunate someone has been kidnapped, because then they might still be alive.”

 

“That is grim.” Brenda put away her gun and picked up her radio. Glancing at Sans and Papyrus nervously she told someone on the other end the situation.

 

* * *

 

 

 _Turns out trusting the human police might not have been the best choice to make_ , Sans mused, leaning his skull on his hand with resignation. Hindsight really did put things into focus after all.

 

_When he and Papyrus had shown Brenda and Matthew up to where Frisk and Toriel had been stood happily conversing they had immediately insisted that Frisk come with them._

 

_“There are laws,” Matthew had insisted._

_“You can’t just adopt a child just because you wanted to. That’s called kidnapping,” Brenda had explained._

_But Toriel wasn’t having any of it. As far she could see she wanted Frisk to be her child and they wanted her to be their mom, so Frisk was her child. She’d lost enough children; she was most certainly not losing this one._

_“Frisk wants to stay with me,” she stated defensively._

_“Adoption isn’t that simple. There are lots of papers and checks that need to be made first. I’m not saying that you can never adopt Frisk. Just that you need to go through the right channels-” Brenda tried to reason with Toriel. Sans was certain that she was a patient soul. However, Matthew next to her seemed to be losing patience fast._

_“You are not taking my child!” Toriel roared. Frisk clutched her skirt._

_“Look, I get that you’re not up to date on the ways things work on the surface, but if you refuse to let us take Frisk then you would be breaking the law. You’d be arrested and put in prison. Simple as that,” Matthew pointed out harshly. “And! If you’ve been stuck inside this mountain for thousands of years as your friends claim then you wouldn’t have been registered as a living person, ignoring the fact that you’re not even human.”_

_Toriel gasped in offense. “Do not speak to me as if I am an imbecile. I am thousands of years old! I am the former Queen of the Monsters. I may not be ‘up to date’ on your human laws but you must also recognise that I have been here much longer than you and we have our own laws. By monster law Frisk is my child because I wish to adopt them and they wish to stay with me.”_

_“Now look here-”_

_“Papyrus! Wait. What's going on?” Undyne gasped and rolled to a stop. She glanced between the humans in blue and Toriel nervously. There was a clear tension hanging in the air._

_“The problem here, Your Majesty, is that Frisk is a human not a monster. And you’re on the surface now where human laws prevail,” Brenda attempted to smooth over the situation._

_“The humans are trying to take Frisk with them. Apparently, Toriel is breaking the law if she tries to keep them right now. Needs to adopt them their way,” Sans clarified the situation for Undyne and Alphys who had just appeared behind her._

_“What? They can’t just take Frisk away! Can they?” Undyne turned to Alphys desperately._

_“I… Maybe. Yes,” Alphys mumbled._

_“You are not taking them! I refuse!” Toriel pushed Frisk behind her and took an attacking stance, her flames beginning to appear in her paws._

_It was then that Sans and Papyrus found out why Brenda had taken the time to speak into her radio as she had. More humans in blue began arriving on the scene. They surrounded the group of monsters, wearing hard hats, and holding see through shields and more guns. Sans gulped, glancing around nervously. Undyne had drawn Alphys behind her and also taken a battle stance, although she didn’t draw any magic. Papyrus had drawn himself up to his full height, trying to make a good first impression. Toriel, however wouldn’t relent._

_“Let the child go!” shouted one of the humans through a loudspeaker. “Put the weapons on the ground – er – magic out.”_

_Toriel looked ready to fight every last human there to keep Frisk by her side. Sans admired her greatly. But Frisk tugged on her cloak in an attempt to get her attention._

_“It’d be best if I just go with them. They are only trying to do what is right, by human law. It’s OK. I’ll be fine,” Frisk signed at Toriel insistently. None of the monsters knew sign language but they could understand Frisk’s words through the resonance of their soul as clearly as if they were speaking out loud. Although, having spent so much time around Frisk, Sans had found himself learning a few of the signs gradually._

_“But, my child…” Toriel seemed lost for words. Frisk gave her a stubborn look. Toriel leaned down and swept them into a hug. “I will adopt you the human way. And then you can come live with me. Even if, by Monster Law you are already mine. I promise.”_

_Frisk smiled gratefully, “Thank you, mom.” Toriel managed to get herself to let them go. Frisk walked calmly over to Brenda’s side. “I’ll go with you.”_

_Brenda took Frisk gently by the shoulder and led them away, Matthew following closely behind. The circle of humans briefly parted to let them through before closing again._

_“Somehow I feel as if we’ve not been let off the hook. Maybe we need to fish for another way to swim out of this problem,” Sans pointed out, looking at the way in which the humans had trapped them. Undyne growled, not appreciating the fish jokes. Toriel was too torn up to notice anything around her, simply staring off in the direction Frisk had been taken._

_“Brother! Now is not the time for your puns!” Papyrus admonished, also glancing around cautiously._

_“Sorry, bro. I couldn’t help myself. I just seem to be circling back around to the same old habits. No need to get defensive about it. I’ll try to shield you from the worst, though, maybe I’m gunning in the wrong direction to do that.” Sans heard a few of the humans choke down laughter._

_“SANS!” Papyrus screamed in frustration._

_“Come quietly and nobody will get hurt. I repeat, come quietly and nobody will get hurt,” the human on the loudspeaker was speaking again._

_“Toriel?” Undyne turned towards the former Queen for direction._

_“Oh. I… Yes. We should comply with their orders. I want to get Frisk back as soon as possible,” Toriel nodded decisively._

_The humans marched them down the mountain towards the blue and white cars with flashing blue and red lights atop them that were sat waiting to take them away, next to what Sans could tell was once a large building that had burned itself to the ground. He recalled Brenda and Matthew mentioning the building that had exploded at the edge of the mountain, adding something about Frisk’s family being attacked, and there being only one set of footsteps leading away from the scene. Sans’ soul felt heavy at the implications. It certainly explained a lot._

_Out of the corner of his sight Sans noticed Asgore’s large shadow hidden between the ever-so green trees. Even from this distance, he could tell that Asgore looked conflicted and confused. Sans shook his head at him. Considering the present situation, if all monsters started piling out from the mountain, the humans would only react defensively. This needed to handled with care and patience. Asgore nodded back his understanding and turned to walk back up the mountain to take care of the rest of his people._

 

Sans glanced up at the bars that took up one entire wall of the holding cell they were now all congregated in.

 

 _Once the human police had taken them down the mountain and into the backs of their cars, where they were separated from the humans by a thin cage of bars, and they had driven them to the human city. The buildings were so different from those underground, with grey slate roofs and equally grey granite stone or dull sandstone. The buildings were dark, but with a beauty and elegance to them. Sans wondered how other human cities were built._ Were they all equally as dark with a quaint beauty to them? Were all of their buildings so clearly weathered and old or were there newer buildings? _Papyrus, on the other hand, was almost bouncing with excitement from finally experiencing being in a human car. Sans had noticed how all the blue dressed humans cars looked alike, he deliberated whether all humans’ cars were so uniform or if these police had identical cars alone for some reason._

 

 _Then the human police had coerced them out of the back of their cars, with considerable effort because of the monsters clearly apparent excitement at_ being in a human city in a human car. _They had lead them into a building labelled ‘Aberdeen City Divisional Headquaters’, a very rectangular building with many windows, not nearly as attractive as other buildings in this city, and promptly locked them inside this barred room._

 

“What now?” asked Undyne quietly. “I mean, we’re not really trapped here – any of us could break those bars easily and Sans can _teleport_. So, we’re here for a reason, obviously.”

 

“They took Frisk,” replied Toriel in a muted forlorn tone. “I want them back. I have to adopt them the human way, so I need to conform to the human laws.” She sighed. “Besides, we don’t want another war. We only just managed to free ourselves. And, this time humans don’t have magic to trap us with…”

 

“Do not worry, Asgore-clone! Frisk is a very strong, independent human! They will be fine! And the humans above ground have been nice also, I am sure everything will turn out well!” Papyrus reassured Toriel.

 

She laughed lightly. “Please, Papyrus. Call me Toriel. And I am not Asgore’s clone. I’m his ex-wife.”

 

“I see! That makes sense!” Papyrus nodded knowledgeably. Sans chuckled.

 

“P-Papyrus is right, Y-Y-Your Majesty. We must have h-hope that everything will t-t-turn out well. Frisk taught us t-that if d-don’t give up w-we can achieve a-a-anything. And…,” Alphys’ voice dropped to a whisper. “T-they d-didn’t catch Asgore.” The others all looked at one another silently.

 

“I saw him, Tori. I told him to go back to the Underground and let us sort this out. Last thing we need is all the monsters streaming out of the Underground while we’re still locked up. The humans need some time to adjust, is all,” Sans clarified the situation for everyone.

 

Toriel sent him a grateful look. “Thank you, Sans. That was certainly quick thinking on your side.”

 

“Eh. I guess. It was just a no brainer for me.”

 

Toriel laughed, Alphys giggled and Undyne smiled. Papyrus groaned good naturedly.

 

Just then the door to the hallway on the other side of the bars caging them in opened. Brenda walked through with another lady following behind. She had mousy brown hair twisted up into a sophisticated style, dark blue eyes which held a great deal of strength and sadness in equal measure hidden behind thick square-rimmed dark brown glasses. She was outfitted in a grey suit ensemble, a grey blazer with a matching grey pencil skirt, crisp white shirt, and charcoal black heels. Overall, she gave off a sense of business, intelligence and determination.

 

Brenda walked to stand in the corner of the room. The lady approached the monsters, looking each of them over with an appraising eye.

 

“Hello. My name is Grace Scott. I am a lawyer. I am the late Twist Ebott’s, Frisk’s cousin, fiancé,” she paused to collect herself. Clearly thinking of her fiancé caused her a great amount of grief.

 

“Unlike the majority of humanity, I am not new to the concept of monsters. My fiance’s family were very knowledgeable about magic and monsters. Twist and I are childhood friends. When we started dating seriously he told me about it all,” she stopped again, however, this time seemed to be for their benefit.

 

“Wait, so Frisk knew?” Sans asked her.

 

“Yes. Frisk knew there were monsters in Mount Ebott. As to whether their falling in was intentional or not… You’ll have to ask them. But, I’m sure they were determined to return aboveground in case the police find their sister, who’s been missing for 3 months now. They are very close. She might still be alive. We… don’t really know anything.” Grace looked to one side, out the barred glass window that looked over the city. “I hope she’s alive. Frisk’s lost enough already.”

 

She shook her head. “Anyway. That’s not why I’ve come here today. I am an Immigration Lawyer. As such I will be just the right lawyer to help you all become recognised as people. Fortunately, Twist gave me emergency access to the Ebott files, which is with their private lawyer, which will probably contain evidence and such of your long time residence in the UK.”

 

They all nodded slowly absorbing the foreign information.

 

“What is the UK?” Toriel queried her.

 

Grace laughed self-consciously. “I forgot how long you’ve been down there. Just a sec.” She pulled out a flat screen phone, that was so different from the ones they had Underground, and tapped on the screen for bit then turn it to face them. She pointed at the map with her index finger. “This is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, UK for short. Except the bottom part of that land, Ireland has separated into two separate parts, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. The Republic of Ireland isn't part of the UK. Great Britain consists mainly of three countries; England – here – Wales –here – and Scotland – up here. There are also a few other small islands too. You’re in Scotland.”

 

She swiped her index finger and thumb in an outward motion on the screen causing the map to zoom in.  “Right now you’re here, in Aberdeen. Mount Ebott is here, a part of the Cairngorm Mountains.”

 

“So,” Sans clarified. “The land we’re in is now a country made up of several other countries?”

 

“Exactly!” Grace smiled. “We’re a very old country that has been invaded a great deal and been in many wars, so we’re a bit illogical. You’ll have to look up World Wars One and Two when you can. They really shaped how we are as a country today.”

 

“Wait!” Papyrus interrupted excited. “That city we saw earlier! It must have been _this_ city! We’re now in the city we saw from the mountaintop!”

 

They all laughed in amazement.

 

“This f-feels a bit like a d-dream, even if we are l-locked up in a c-cell,” Alphys admitted.

 

“I feel you there!” Undyne agreed enthusiastically.

 

“May I ask,” Toriel began, Grace nodded at her. “Frisk. I wish to adopt them. Will that be possible?”

 

There was a long silence.

 

“You’d need to be a fully recognised citizen with a home and steady income first,” Grace eventually managed to explain. “But, well. If Misty is still alive, you probably won’t be able to adopt Frisk because Misty is over 18 and adores Frisk. She will also need a home but she will have a hefty inheritance, so a steady income isn’t a worry. Besides, she had almost finished her PGDE anyway and would have been a Newly Qualified Teacher…” Grace trailed off.

 

“Admittedly, gaining citizenship will be a long process. It can take years. Finding Misty and then talking to her about maybe caring for Frisk sometimes or maybe just visiting frequently wouldn’t be exactly what you want but… it’ll be faster and better for Frisk.

 

They need their sister.”

 

Toriel nodded in understanding. “I understand. I would not wish to take Frisk away from family that love them. Besides, I’m sure that if Frisk loves their sister as much as you claim, then I will love her too.” Toriel gave a smile that spoke of the wisdom of ages. “I hope she is found soon. For Frisk’s sake.”

 

“So, do I.” Grace affirmed. “Anyway, do I have permission to start working on your case, proving both that you are people and that you have a right for citizenship here in the UK?”

 

“There are more of us. Hundreds of us inside that mountain,” Sans whispered to her, glancing at Brenda surreptitiously.

 

“I might know a few other Immigration Lawyers who would probably jump at the chance to be involved in such a case as yours. You’re going to be famous.”

 

“Like Mettaton?! On the television for all to see us! I will finally be recognised for my magnificence!” Papyrus exclaimed energetically. They all laughed good humouredly.

 

 _Maybe honesty really will work out_ , Sans mused.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Twist IV Macduff-Ebott is Frisk's cousin. He's the son of Whisk III and Graham Macduff-Ebott, and the older brother of Gist II Macduff-Ebott. Twist was the oldest of their generation, at 23 (a year older than Misty), when he died.  
> His magic powers focused on the wind, he could create from the smallest gusts of air to large tornados/twisters. His powers may have contributed to that which caused his family's death.  
> He went to school with Grace and they were close childhood friends. They started dating when he was 16, and had been engaged for a year.


	4. Frisk - A Change of Scene

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frisk remembers their family. They are picked up by a social worker and taken to an orphanage. The orphanage is not real but based a real orphanage.
> 
> Warning: Slight gender dysphoria, incorrect gender pronouns, social workers and orphanages.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back to my story! If you're still here, thank you for reading so far. Thank you to the people who have left me kudos, it lets me know you've enjoyed my story. :-)
> 
> I don't know how orphanages or social services actually work entirely but I'm trying to be logical and fair here. I don't know sign language but I did look necessary bits up. I know some finger spelling, though! 
> 
> Anyway, please enjoy!

_“Sometimes a change of scene is really good for you,” dad signed, his eyes, the colour of mahogany, dancing with excitement as he leaned around to face them._

_Mum laughed softly with joy, she kept her eyes facing forwards out the front windscreen, her grip on the steering wheel steady. Misty shook her head._

_“You should have been there when we went on the big family holiday 5 years ago, Frisk. It was manic,” she signed with solemnity, but Frisk could tell her mouth twitched with amusement. She loved their crazy big family as much as they did._

_There was a sense of love and belonging that their large family estate exuded. There was always something happening. Whether it was Twist throwing out mini tornadoes – or Twisters as he called them, even though Misty always shouted back that “_ We’re not American!” _Or Risk and Gist running rampant across the grounds or through the house pranking everybody in sight. Or Deist curled up in a corner reading aloud to anyone who will listen. Or Aunt Whisk constantly cleaning up everybody else’s messes. The outside of the house may have looked bleak with its grey granite walls, broken up slightly by the muted yellow sandstone that lined the windows and edges of the building, and grey slate roofing but it was a building full to brim with warmth and laughter._

_Frisk loved it there._

_Still they were pretty excited to be going on holiday._

_“It’s going to be great,” their dad assured them. “France is much warmer and sunnier than Scotland. You can try… er…” he paused and pulled out his phone. He flicked his thumb across it for a bit. Frisk bit their lip. He was looking up a word again. He didn’t do it often anymore, but sometimes he didn’t know how to say something in sign language._

_“Croissants,” Misty ended the sentence for him. Dad looked up. “Croissants,” she signed again._

_“Yes!” Dad affirmed warmly. “Croi-ss-an-ts. There’s going to be a swimming pool too – you best stick to the kiddy pool for now, though, Frisk. We can go to the beach, and drive around and see the countryside and… and… So much!” They all laughed warmly at dad’s enthusiasm._

_Frisk loved their home and their family. But maybe a change of scene would be good for them._

 

* * *

 

The orphanage was different from how Frisk had imagined it would be. Clearly they had watched too much ‘ _Oliver’_ because they were expecting a building with barren walls, strict adults and single servings of gruel. The ‘ _Baby Footprints Large Steps’_ orphanage was outwardly painted many bright colours with flowers hung beneath the windows. Frisk glanced up at the social worker walking alongside them as they walked up the garden path to the outwardly cheerful building.

 

_Frisk had been sat at the police station for ages as the Police arranged a social worker for them who knew sign language. The station had been suspiciously empty, but Frisk had supposed that many officers were probably busy with their friends. Then a police officer had walked up to them, gave them a friendly grin and then turned and spoke to the person behind him. The lady behind him had cropped short brown hair and tired brown eyes, she wore a light blue blouse and black trousers. She carried herself as if she carried the world on her shoulders. She nodded at the police officer then walked past him to Frisk._

_“Hello, Frisk,” she signed slowly, concisely, as if she either didn’t expect Frisk to be able to understand well or she didn’t know sign language very well. Frisk tried not to frown. People always assumed they were stupid just because they were deaf._

_They nodded in reply. She gave a weary smile._

_“My name’s Carol. I am a social worker. Do you know what a social worker is?” Frisk imagined that if they could hear her voice, like they could the Monsters, then she’s have a slow, quiet voice._

_“You’re here to take me to an orphanage,” Frisk replied._

_“I am here to help. This time I am to take you to an orphanage. It’s a really nice orphanage. You will like it,” she paused and looked them in the eyes. “I am here to help. Social workers help people who are in bad situations like yours.”_

Carol knocked on the cherry red door of the orphanage. A moment later the door swung open to reveal an aging woman with greying auburn hair wearing a tartan skirt that reached below her knees and a matching red blouse with shining gold buttons.

 

“Ah, Mrs. Taylor. Here at last,” she wasn’t signing, Frisk concentrated on following the movement of her lips. “And this must be Miss. Ebott.” She directed her gaze downwards. Frisk felt their skin crawl as she called them a _Miss_. They felt slightly sick.

 

“Frisk prefers to not be called Miss,” Carol corrected her. The lady’s brow furrowed in confusion.

 

“But she is a Miss,” she argued back. Frisk clenched their hands, and had to stop themselves from looking away. They had to know what was going on.

 

“No. They are not a Miss. or a she. By law, if a person asks to be referred by a different name or gender we have to respect that wish. You are going to be caring for Frisk while they are here. It’s your job to make them more comfortable, not less,” Carol squared her shoulders and looked the lady in the eye.

 

“I – well. Alright, then,” she said, shrugging dismissively. Then she looked over her shoulder seeming to notice something behind her. Frisk could just about see the side of her mouth move. “Don’t think I don’t see that, Thomas! It’s not dinner time, so out of the kitchen. You should know better, Annabell. Go outside, the both of you.”

 

She waved her hand at the two children stood further down the hallway that Frisk could just make out if they leaned around her. Thomas had dark skin, short hair, and was wearing a worn black and white striped shirt. He scowled at her. Annabell had blond hair tied up into two pigtails, forest green eyes and was wearing a frilly baby pink shirt and purple leggings. She tugged on Thomas’ arm, and then they both walked down the corridor and out the sliding glass door at the end.

 

The lady turned back to them. “How about we carry this on in my office?” Carol nodded.

 

The lady led them down the hall then into a room on their left. The room inside was much more plain than the rest of the building, everything within calming shades of cream and brown. The room smelt distinctly like ink, paper and some kind of lemony air freshener. There were blinds on the window, filtering the light into the room, and a large mahogany desk that had clearly seen a great deal of wear and tear occupied the majority of the office. Paperwork was spread across the desk haphazardly, and an old computer sat on one side. A coal black desk chair sat on one side, with two rickety wooden seats on the other. Frisk though it was designed that way to make the people visiting not wish to stay for longer than necessary.

 

The lady sat in the desk chair and Carol and Frisk sat in the other chairs. Carol pulled out a yellow folder from her satchel and handed it over to the lady. She flipped the folder open and flicked through the pages, stopping at the last one, signed it, then handed that page back to Carol. Carol pulled out another lime green folder and put that sheet in there.

 

“You’re going to need an interpreter. Frisk is deaf and can only speak in sign language. At the moment the authorities aren’t entirely sure if Frisk has no living family or not, so they can’t be adopted. We’re looking into finding them a nice foster family, though,” Carol explained. “It says all of that in their file too.”

 

“Do you have an interpreter ready or is there a waiting time?” the lady asked.

 

“It’ll be a few days.”

 

The lady sighed. “Can she… they at least understand what I tell them or do I need an interpreter for that?”

 

Carol smiled slightly. “Why don’t you ask them?”

 

She turned her small watery blue eyes on Frisk, giving them an assessing look. Then she pasted a smile on her face. “Can you understand me, sweetie?” Frisk nodded with certainty.

 

They turned to Carol then signed. “I’m a really good lip reader. My whole family learned sign language for me so it was easy for me to learn to put signs and mouth movements and meanings together.” They stopped. Talking about their human family was still painful. “Misty always read to me.”

 

“That is really incredible,” Carol smiled. She then turned to the lady. “Frisk says they can read lips really well. They’ve probably understood everything we’ve been saying, haven’t you Frisk?” She didn’t even sign at the end.

 

Frisk nodded again. “But I can only speak sign language.”

 

“That’s OK,” she was signing again. “That’s why we are going get an interpreter for you. Do you know what an interpreter is?”

 

“Someone who translates what one person is saying into a different language for other people to understand.” Frisk tried not roll their eyes. They’re not stupid.

 

“That’s right. You’re pretty bright, huh?” Carol gave a wide grin, impressed.

 

“That’s what Misty always said.” Frisk looked away from Carol to the floor. Thinking of their family was incredibly painful, but at the same time they couldn’t help but do it. Their eyes were burning. But they weren’t going to cry in front of strangers.

 

Frisk felt a tap on their shoulder. They looked back up. “- if you need their attention,” Carol seemed to be explaining something to the lady. The lady was nodding slowly, absorbing the information.

 

Carol then stood up. “I should be going,” she signed at them both. “I have another appointment to get to. Goodbye, Frisk. Take care.” She gave a little wave then exited the room.

 

The lady turned Frisk again. “How about I give you a tour?” Frisk shrugged. They signed to ask her name. She stared at them. They signed it again. They sighed then open their hands in the asking gesture then pointed at her.

 

“Are you… asking my name?” Frisk nodded vehemently

 

“I’m Ms. Ferguson. I’m the manager of this orphanage. If you have any problems you can come to me or to any of the other assistant managers. Did you understand all that?” Frisk nodded. Then pointed at Ms. Ferguson and finger spelled her name.

 

She smiled slightly. “Is that my name in sign language?” Frisk shrugged slightly then nodded again. It was her name in finger spelling, which is a form of sign language, so technically it was. They then repeated the action. She copied them slowly. Then she laughed uproariously. “I know what my name is in sign language. That’s pretty cool. Come on, I’ll show you around. If you don’t understand anything just tap my elbow twice.” They tapped her elbow twice. “That’s right.”

 

She held open her office door for them.

 

* * *

 

_“This is hard!” Frisk complained moving their arms with ferocity to emphasis their frustration._

_Twist grinned at them good naturedly. His smile was lopsided, but brought a certain charm to his youthful face. His narrow cinnamon brown eyes crunched up at the edges. His shoulder length oak brown hair blew around him as the sun warmed them gently as it peaked over the nearby mountains. It was a rare sunny day._

_“You can do it, Frisk,” he assured them gently._

_“But it’s hard,” Frisk felt some of their frustration melt away even so at Twist’s cheerful and confident manner. They picked a piece of grass and twirled it between their clumsy fingers._

_Twist reached over and took the shoe out of their lap. He carefully undid the knot they had created in the laces. Right now Twist was calm and peaceful, but Frisk had seen him as angry as a raging rhino. Twist was like the wind, able to be both perfectly tranquil and thunderously furious. Frisk watched as he did the shoe up correctly again, showing them each action he performed with precision. He undid the laces and handed it back to them._

_Frisk took a deep breathe. They looked to Twist once more, he gave them an encouraging smile._

_“You really think I can do it?” Frisk asks with uncertainty._

_“Just because something is hard, doesn’t mean you can’t do it. I believe you can do anything you set your mind to. You’re a bright kid, Frisk,” Twist’s eyes were filled with unwavering certainty._

_Frisk nodded. They looked to the polished black shoe with its undone laces in their lap. They thought back on all their failed attempts at doing up the laces. They thought of the quiet confidence that Twist had in them, just like Misty who always told them she thought they were clever. They set their mouth in a small determined line._

_They would overcome this challenge._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Frisk is 5 and Misty 20 when they go on the family holiday to France.
> 
> Frisk is 4 and Twist is 20 when he is teaching them to tie shoelaces.


	5. Sans - Temporary Restricted Citizenship

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The monsters realise how little they really know about human society, are given temporary citizenship, and Sans has an idea.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I hope you're enjoying my story so far. If you have any questions feel free to ask.
> 
> I don't know loads about law and so on. I've tried to be flexibly accurate (in that I'm probably not accurate but I've tried, OK? Hahaha!).
> 
> Warning: Mentioned character kidnapping.

It was certainly a good thing that monsters don’t need to sleep a great deal because sleeping in a cell with a concrete floor, a rickety bed, a bench and a strange steel circular object in the corner would have been a challenging enterprise. Papyrus had curiously pulled the knob on the strange object causing it to make a loud sucking sound and create a tiny whirlpool within.

 

Papyrus had shrieked, Undyne had prepared to attack it, whereas Alphys had run to it to study it mumbling to herself. Fortunately, Toriel had managed to talk Undyne down from attacking the foreign object. Sans had joked a bit to distract Papyrus from his surprise. However, the strangeness of the object quickly wore off when Barbara had begun laughing from where she was sat in the corner outside of their cell, still guarding them.

 

“What is this?” Alphys had turned to her suddenly, a scientist’s passion in her eyes. Barbara had snorted inelegantly.

 

“It’s a toilet. Not a particularly nice one, but well, what can you do. Don’t monsters have toilets?” They all shook their heads. She had furrowed her eyebrows in concern, “But, what about the kid? Humans need to be able to use a toilet occasionally. They were with you for a few days.”

 

Toriel looked suddenly greatly alarmed. Sans decided to put them out of their misery, as amusing as their confusion about a _toilet_ was.

 

“I wouldn’t worry about that. Monster food is different from human food,” Sans clarified. They all looked relieved. Papyrus even wiped his bony brow with the back of his hand in his ever dramatic fashion. Toriel’s entire figure released tension and sat straighter.

 

“Of course, I remember that now that you mention it,” Toriel nodded contemplatively. Undyne rolled her shoulders and quirked her head in his direction.

 

“How do you know that, punk?” she questioned him with her typical aggression but Alphys quickly overrode her with queries of her own.

 

“How are they different? How do humans normally digest their food? Why do they need to use the toilet? How does the toilet work?” Alphys was so excitedly spewing out questions she was interrupting herself and barely managing to finish each one. She was literally buzzing on the spot with her energetic curiosity.

 

Sans sighed. Explaining things was exhausting. He was weary anyway. Well, he was always weary.

 

“Human food is more… solid than monster food. Some types of food they grow in the ground, some they grow on trees, other times they kill and eat animals, either way the food itself needs food also of a sort. The growing food needs sunlight, warmth, water and dirt. The animals usually eat the growing food or other animals. Then they need to harvest the food. Then they prepare the food for consumption – like we do with our magic.”

 

“That’s incredible! The humans must go through such an ordeal to consume foods! Fascinating!” Papyrus rubbed at his chin thoughtfully.

 

“When you say the food is more solid, how do you mean that?” Alphys tilted her head consideringly.

 

“Well… Monster food, being made of magic, just dissolves and becomes pure energy. Human food needs to be _digested_. Their body breaks up the food and absorbs it. And the food doesn’t only give them energy, it also provides with nutrients that they need to be healthy, and different foods have different nutrients in them.”

 

“But then if they absorb the food why do they need the toy-let?” Alphys leaned forward in interest.

 

“Their body absorbs what it needs, there is always some excess. The excess of their food is… er… expelled from their body and humans use that thing… the toilet to expel it in a clean and easy way,” Sans shrugged. “As well as food they need drink to stay hydrated.”

 

Papyrus was staring at Sans with an assessing look in his eyes. Sans wondered what he was thinking so hard about. “What happens when a human doesn’t have any of their food or drink?!”

 

“Without food and drink humans get very thin, weak and ill,” Sans looked away so as not to see the increasing worry in Papyrus’ face. “A human can last for two weeks without food as long as they have drink. Without either they can last a week.”

 

“Woah! Humans are such weaklings! Being so reliant on food and drink. They need to train harder!” Undyne laughed maniacally. Toriel shook her head but smiled in an exasperated manner. Papyrus looked to Undyne with an expression of admiration.

 

“Yes! We should help the humans train beyond their reliance on food and drink!” He agreed enthusiastically.

 

“It doesn’t quite work like that, my dear. As I remember, because the humans are physical they need their physical food to sustain their bodies,” Toriel explained gently. Sans gave her a grateful smile.

 

“This is all so fascinating,” Alphys mumbled and wandered over to Sans’ side. She sat down tentatively by his side and then Sans found himself answering her innumerable questions about human needs and their physiology. He wasn’t sure if he regretted opening this can of worms. He usually didn’t like to display his level of knowledge and intelligence, preferring to blend into the background and let others be brainy.

 

“I-It’s funny,” Alphys giggled flustered after a while of questioning. “I f-feel as if I-I already kn-new that you were c-clever a-and yet I w-was surprised.” Sans hummed noncommittally.

 

* * *

 

 

“I have good news for you!” Grace said as she entered. “You’re all being released with temporary citizenship.” She paused allowing the news to sink in.

 

“Why? What has caused this decision to be made?” Toriel questioned her gently.

 

Grace pulled out her phone and waved it demonstratively. “When you guys were brought into the city and to the station some members of the public took pictures and recordings of you all on their phones, phones like mine. Those pictures and videos have gone viral overnight! Everybody was asking “what is going on” and “what’s happening”. The police refused to release a statement at first. I saw this opportunity and released my own statement as your solicitor explaining that you were some of the species of monsters with human levels of intelligence who had been trapped under Mount. Ebott for 1,675 years. I provided some scans of the documents kept by the Ebott family that I had managed to gain access to last night. When the public found out about all that there was an uproar.

 

“So, the government had to look like it was doing something about it. A full blown trial can take a while, especially seeing as they were unsure as to whether there were more of you.” She glanced pointedly at Sans. “So, they have made the decision to give you temporary citizenship. However, since you were found at Mount. Ebott, which is fairly remote, they have decided to allow you to live there until this can all be sorted out. Especially since that land is owned by the Ebott family – so now just owned by Frisk, and maybe Mist – who you were found with and also since you lived there for so long some of the land may technically belong to you. It’s all a bit of a legal mess right now actually.” Grace laughed tiredly.

 

“Wow! I’m super impressed by how much you got done in one night, punk!” Undyne exclaimed pumping her fist excitedly. “Thanks.”

 

“No problem,” she rubbed her head wearily. “Anyway, although you have temporary citizenship you have not been given freedom of movement so they are creating a border around Mount. Ebott where you cannot leave and humans cannot enter. Without permission anyway. Is everything clear to you all?”

 

There was moment of contemplative silence as they all absorbed the information they had been given.

 

“So, they are not officially locking us up anywhere… But they are ‘restricting’ us to remain on Mount. Ebott?” Sans clarified.

 

“For now, that about sums it up,” Grace nodded at them. “I bet its way better than being trapped underground, though.” She gave a short tired laugh but cut herself off when she saw their expressions. “Sorry. I’m tired. The other lawyers I have got involved in this case are just finishing off the cases they’re on before they are going to come up here and help me. Until then it’s just me. But… Look, I know this isn’t what you really want, but it’s a start, right? If we try hard enough things are only going to go up from here. Right now you have temporary restricted citizenship. But once the trial and everything else – ” she gave them a pointed look “- is sorted out then you’ll be given your rights as sentient beings who have lived here longer than most of our families have been here. Your ‘Human Rights’ as we call them right now.”

 

“B-but… we’re not humans!?” Papyrus asked in a confused tone.

 

“No. But you’re of human intellect and have lived here as long as we have so have as much right to live here as we do,” Grace said decisively. They looked reassured by her conviction. Sans wasn’t sure himself but certainly wasn’t going to simply give in either way.

 

“S-so they are going to t-take us back to Mount. Ebott?” Alphys questioned wringing her hands nervously.

 

“Soon. The military is just setting up the borders right now. That’ll take a few hours. But by law they cannot keep you here for more than 24 hours without charging you with something so you’ll definitely be released today.” Grace yawned expansively.

 

“You should go rest, my dear. You have done great work for us but we need you healthy and rested if you are going to continue doing so,” Toriel advised Grace gently, touching her paw to the bar nearest to where Grace stood.

 

“Yeah. You’re right. Take of yourselves. I’ll meet you tomorrow at Mount. Ebott. I already have permission as your solicitor.” With that final bit of information Grace turned on her heel and walked out.

 

“Why! This is great! Progress is being made!” Papyrus gave his brother a sudden hug of joy. Sans held back a surprised groan.

 

“Yeah, bro.”

 

* * *

 

 

Sans breathed in the fresh evening air as he stood on Mount Ebott and watched the sun set on the horizon. The sun cast a deep orange light across much of the sky, with the edges turning a pinkish red before fading into the navy blue that made up the night sky. Already Sans could see the bright pinpricks of stars emerging into the darkened sky and the moon was crossing the horizon. It was soul shakingly beautiful.

 

The police and some other humans dressed in camo with bright red caps and fluorescent coats carrying more guns, who Sans assumed were the military that Grace had mentioned, escorted them back to Mount. Ebott and through the tall metal fenced border they had erected around the base of the mountain. Sans wondered what the difference was between the military and the police. They only had the royal guards in the Underground.

 

The five of them had made the decision that for the moment they would camp in sight of the humans on the mountainside. It was partially because they didn’t really want to go back underground unless they had to, but also so as to protect the rest of the monsters still underground if things went pear-shaped.

 

“Sans! Come and try some of Toriel’s delicious pie! She had the ingredients for snail pie on her and it is almost as scrumptious as my own spaghetti!” Papyrus called his brother over. Sans turned and walked back over to the others, pointedly not looking at the dark outline of the fencing or the humans guarding it.

 

“No matter how good it is, I’d probably best not slug it down,” Sans grunted as he sat on the log that they had pulled up in circle around the fire. Toriel giggled at the pun and Papyrus pulled an aggravated face.

 

“Are you sure you have the stomach for some pie?” Toriel asked with a joyful glint in her eye.

 

Sans laughed uproariously. “No. But I’ll have some anyway.” He took a slice of snail pie. “Don’t worry, I’m made of bone, the heat just goes right through me.” Toriel grinned at him. Sans noticed that although Papyrus was groaning in frustration he oddly wasn’t saying anything to stop them. He felt grateful to his considerate brother, joking around certainly was helping him feel better.

 

As he bit into the pie he glanced over at Undyne and Alphys who were sat a small ways off and had their backs to them and were gazing at the sunset together. Undyne had her arm lovingly wrapped around Alphys. The looked really happy together and he was glad for them.

 

“I hope that Frisk is alright,” Toriel said suddenly. Sans felt his non-existent heart drop. “To have lost their whole family and now to once more be separated from their new one. It must be so difficult for them.”

 

“I’m sure they’re fine, Tori. Frisk is a strong kid. Plus, the humans seem to take care of their children. There are many strict rules in place because they want to protect them,” Sans comforted her as best he was able.

 

“Do not worry so, Toriel! My brother is right! Frisk is indeed a very strong human. I am sure they will be fine and are waiting expectantly until you can be their mother again.”

 

Toriel sighed. “I’m starting to get the feeling it’s not going to work like that…”

 

Sans wasn’t quite sure what to say to that. His knowledge of the human world was presently restricted to the books he had managed to salvage in the Underground. He was more knowledgeable than most monsters but still felt very much in the dark about a great many things.

 

“Anyway, I’m also rather worried about their missing sister. I may have never met her but Frisk probably loves her dearly and I do wish I could find her for them,” Toriel looked incredibly sad. “They have already lost so much and losing family… its soul destroying.”

 

“Indeed! If I lost Sans I don’t know how I would cope!” Papyrus agreed with her.

 

Sans thought about the timelines when he lost Papyrus, even with the knowledge that everything would be reset and he’d be alive again, it had devastated him. And the kid had lost their whole family just before they fell into the Underground. No wonder they were such a mess.

 

Maybe…

 

Maybe if their sister was found they would have no reason to reset again.

 

A plan began to form in Sans’ mind.


	6. Frisk - New Discoveries but Old Connections

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frisk watches the news and meets someone new but connected to them.
> 
> Frisk remembers some significant points of their first timeline where they discovered something new about themselves in the Underground.
> 
> Warnings: Discussions of discrimination against disabled people, racism, sexism, gender identity and mentions of gender dysphoria. Mentions of character death and kidnapping.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year!
> 
> As my Christmas gift to you all I have written an especially long chapter that is 7, 640 words. That's almost twice the length of my dissertation! I know! Thats crazily long! It just ran away from me.
> 
> Anyway! Enjoy reading, and please leave kudos and reviews. They really encourage me. 
> 
> (Do you like this story? I've not been getting much feedback and have been wondering if this story isn't much liked. I really like writing this story myself! Feedback is important.)

Frisk stared at the TV screen with determined focus, steadfastly ignoring James who they could see out of the corner of their eye was mockingly pulling faces at them – they were deaf not blind. Normally, Frisk would have faced James straight on in his pale grey eyes and given him a flirtatious smirk and wink that would have made him blush bright red or written out a funny pun on the whiteboard they had been _given_ to use with the other kids that would have made him laugh so suddenly he would surprise himself. But the news was on and they were talking about their friends and family, the monsters.

 

Two weeks had passed and this was the closest they could be to the situation. It was frustrating. But Frisk was the ambassador and even if they were separated right now they were still committed to their duty. If they didn’t watch the news with great focus they would be too in the dark to be of any help at all when they were finally reunited with their friends and family. So, they ignored James pulling faces at them, Annabell and Esme animatedly playing dolls sat on the floor – between them and the TV – and Thomas, Eryk and Wei playing Uno with gusto on the dining table, while the two older kids, Ryan and Leonie, stood out in the corridor doing whatever older kids do.

 

“After the initial appearance of these five, what we have been told are called monsters,” the text beneath the news anchor said before a slightly out of focus picture of Papyrus, Sans, Undyne, Alphys and Toriel being transported from some police vehicles to the police station clearly taken by a random member of the public appeared on the screen, “ two weeks ago. Even more have been discovered beneath Mount. Ebott on which those first five were found alongside the missing child X. Child X is the same child that went missing after an attack on their family home,” a recording of the smouldering form of Frisk’s family home appeared on the screen. Smoke was still rising from the charred wreckage. Frisk felt their breath catch at the recording. They remembered the billowing explosion that engulfed their family home, destroying everything in its wake. The overpowering heat that had beaten against their exposed skin. The sharp, wet slaps of the grass as they ran away from their home and up the mountain.

 

“And whose older sister, Mist Ebott, was kidnapped in April and is yet to be found, alive or dead,” a picture of Misty appears on the screen. Frisk recognises it to be the one taken at their family celebration meal after she graduated. Misty is wearing her favourite royal blue dress that offsets her tawny skin tone beautifully, her long wavy toffee brown hair flows behind her elegantly as the  joyful grin on her face crinkles her lively amber eyes. Frisk didn’t know their family had given the police that picture of Misty. It was one of their favourites, and possibly the only left after their home had burned down.

 

There was uncertainty tightening its hold in their chest, Frisk wanted to believe that somewhere out there Misty was still holding on, persevering against all odds with all she had. But it had been so _long_ since she had gone missing. For all Frisk knew, she was dead too and everything Frisk had ever treasured before falling into the Underground was _gone_ and they were holding onto nothing more than the memory of a ghost long past. But Frisk knew Misty was perseverance personified, no matter what life had thrown at her she had always overcome, and they wanted to believe that she would remain as strong as she had always been and survive this.

 

Frisk missed Mist. Missed the way that she had always believed in them no matter what happened. Missed the way she had held their hand, her larger warmer hand enveloping their smaller chubbier one. Missed the way she would lay next to them in bed as they curled into her side and watched her read them a story with her hands, lips and eyes. Misty was still alive, she had to be.

 

“As it turns out these monsters are a whole society of people who have been trapped under Mount Ebott for several thousand years and have finally managed to free themselves. They claim to mean no harm and have so far not done anything to contradict that statement,” the live recording of the news anchor cut to a video recording of Toriel speaking to the camera, Undyne and Papyrus standing on either side of her.

 

“Hello, my name is Toriel. I am the Queen of monsters. Although, the King and I have separated I do still own the title,” Toriel gave a warm but regale smile to the camera. Frisk wished they could hear her voice like they could when they were actually with her. “I wish to assure all humans that though we may outwardly look threatening and strange we really are not that different from humans and all we want is to be free and to live Overground. Living Underground was not terrible but my people have been very unhappy for a long time and wished for nothing more than to live Overground. We have missed the stars, the moon, the sun and the fresh air that all you humans adore just as we do,” for a moment Toriel was quiet and gazed at the sky with clear longing in her deep red eyes. Frisk felt glad that they had managed to free the monsters. They deserved to live above the ground.

 

“As a society we likely function with great similarities to your own, even though we have been separated for a few thousand years. We have a Royal Family that attempts to make decisions for the best of the people that we have jurisdiction over, though that has not always been what has happened we have always done the best we can with what little we have. I’m sure that when your Royal Family made the political decisions it was the same way. We do have the best of intentions, though.

 

“We have Royal Guards who, much like your police here seem to, reinforce the law with fairness and strength. Standing beside me today is our very Captain of the Royal Guard, Undyne,” Toriel motioned to Undyne who stood up tall.

 

“We also have a justice system, though it may outwardly seem simple to you, it is because monsters do not often commit crimes terrible enough to face it. Our Royal Guards do well enough reinforcing the law alone for the majority of the time. However, in the most extreme of situations we have our Judge, who is a monster with the rare ability to see people’s souls clearly and read their stats. Which means that with one look at your soul he can tell how good or terrible of a person you have been. In extremely rare cases he has the right to pass Judgement over you. Fortunately, most cases he simply refers to the Royal Family to sort out.” Sans wandered into the video, Papyrus stepped slightly behind Toriel to make room for him, with Alphys stood slightly behind him. “Sans here is our Judge.”

 

“S’up,” Sans waved at the camera with a bony hand, his fixed grin looking slightly strained to Frisk. “I’d stick around but I don’t really have the stomach for it,” he sent a wink the camera’s way. Papyrus groaned with great drama.

 

“Saaaaaannnss! Must you really say your puns at such a serious time?!” he asked in clear frustration.

 

“Sorry, bro. Guess I’m just too humerus to stop myself.” Papyrus began to scream in dismay. Toriel couldn’t stop herself from laughing anymore. “Don’t worry, Paps, I’m just ribbing you. I promise I’m not trying to pun-ish you, I know you’ve got a funny bone too. Come on, bro, I can see you smiling.”

 

“I am and I hate it!” Papyrus took a deep breathe to straighten himself. “Oh, be off with you! You’re interrupting!”

 

“Aw. Looks like I goat to go. Seeya, Tori,” Sans waved again as he wandered off, Alphys slipped behind Papyrus and Toriel to hide behind Undyne.

 

Toriel giggled once more. “Bye, Sans. He’s quite the comic, Sans,” she laughed at the small pun she made to herself before straightening herself in a business-like manner. “But there are other things we have that are the same as you. Here beside Undyne stands our Royal Scientist, Alphys, who built two robot bodies for the ghost monster Hapstablook. Hapstablook then went on to become the Underground’s greatest celebrity, calling himself Mettaton.

 

“So, I’m sure you are beginning to see that though we may look different we truly have a great deal in common. We are not human beings, we are monster beings, but we are beings all the same, with hopes, dreams and personalities. We only wish for freedom. To truly have that we need to have Citizenship and Human Rights just the same as human beings.

 

“Thank you.” Toriel sent one last look at the camera laden with feeling before it cut back to the news anchor.

 

It took the man a moment to realise that he’s back on but as soon as he does he looked to the camera. “The monsters, as creatures of human level intelligence have been given Temporary Citizenship. The Government is assuring us that everything is being done to work with monsters to quickly and justly resolve the issues at hand.”

 

Frisk rubbed their eyes tiredly, some of those words had been pretty advanced, far beyond their age group should have been. Frisk internally thanked Misty and their parents for always reading to them, and willingly reading harder books to them when they asked.

 

Things seemed to be going well enough for their friends and family. They had Temporary Citizenship, and were well on their way to gaining full Citizenship and Human Rights, all things Frisk themselves had always taken for granted. Frisk had grown up relatively protected from the outside world by their large and loving family, even so far as being homeschooled. But when Frisk had met other people, whether it was out shopping with their family, or a visit to the local museum or zoo, or when they went on holiday to France, they had found that some people didn’t respect them as equal to other people.

 

Sometimes it was because they were deaf, sometimes it was because they weren’t white, and then, after they realised they weren’t either a girl or a boy, sometimes it was because of their gender.

 

They had experienced people shouting loudly at them as if that would make them magically able to hear them (when actually it just made it harder to read their lips), or mouthing words slowly (which often didn’t help either), or just blatantly ignoring them and talking to the person they were with about them all because they were deaf. People often thought they were stupid because they were deaf too.

 

The racism was more subtle.

 

Although, they hadn’t been the only one in their family to experience it. Their mum’s parents had been Chinese (so Wei had something in common with Frisk other than being in this orphanage), and as such Mist and Frisk had a middle tone olive skin tone and small eyes. Whereas, Aunt Freya’s parents had been Italian, so her and her children with Auncle Tamarisk, Bisk, Risk and Deist, had had tanned skin. On the other hand, Aunt Whisk’s husband, Uncle Graham, had been from a long line of Scottish heritage so their children, Twist and Gist, had pale white skin. Within their own tightly knit family the mixed heritages hadn’t mattered.

 

But outside of their own family, people would whisper and stare at those of them that were not white as if that made them different somehow from their own family who were white. They looked a bit different on the outside and that was about it. Occasionally, they would shout at their mum and Aunt Freya to ‘go back to where they came from’ the moment they said something because they had accents. It didn’t matter that their spouses were British Nationals and that they had children that were too. Some people just didn’t care and would still insist they had no right to live here. At those times their mum would try to cover their eyes and Aunt Freya would cover Bisk’s ears and they would tell the others not to listen.

 

And then there was the misgendering that Frisk and Auncle Tamarisk experienced. Being gender neutral and transgender wasn’t actually that uncommon but many people seemed convinced that being either male or female, depending on your physical body, was the only way to be. They wouldn’t get stared at or shouted at like they would for their race. No, but they would often be told they were wrong about their own self or that they lying or told that they were too young to know these things. People would assume their gender and call them ‘miss’ or ‘girl’, occasionally they would be assumed to be a ‘boy’ which would make them feel a mixture of wrongness and pride at successful androgyny (which was a hard word Auncle Tamarisk had explained to them meant being neither male nor female in appearance).

 

Unlike the discrimination for their disability which made them feel frustrated at other’s inability to understand, and the racism which made them feel angry that other people could be so ridiculously judgemental for something as simple as skin tone, it was the misgendering that made Frisk feel sick to their stomach. People often would try to force Frisk to change their gender (as if they could) as if their gender was a choice not a recognition of self, they would refuse to call Frisk ‘they’ and would constantly treat them like a girl. There was a doctor who agreed they were deaf, it was something they coped with. Their heritage was outwardly obvious and they didn’t need to fight for it to be recognised only respected. But their gender was often disregarded and seen as not true. It was a battle up a cliffside to be recognised as gender neutral. Their own body worked against them and sometimes the frustration and nausea they felt about it was indescribable.

 

But, despite all of that, they were still human. They had British Nationality and Human Rights and respect as a human being. Their friends from the Underground would have to fight for all of that and then even once they had it they would experience something far worse than racism because they weren’t a different race of humans. No. They were an entirely different species, they were monsters. ( _Speciesism? Monsterphobia? What would it be called?_ They wondered.)

 

The monsters would always have it worse off than Frisk.

 

* * *

 

_Frisk groaned as they woke up. Their whole body thrummed with pain, particularly their feet and legs from all that running. Why had they been running?_

_…_

_They took a moment to catch their bearings. They could feel something soft but brittle beneath their neck, hands and carves where their skin was exposed, like leaves or petals. There was a gentle flowery scent in the air so they assumed they were lying on a bed of flowers. The air around them was unusually stagnant like they were indoors with the windows closed so there was no air flow, although they could feel the weak touch of sunlight caressing their face._

_Their memories came back to them like a newly sprung river, at first slow and weak then strong and flowing with urgency._

_Their home had been attacked. Maybe even by the same people who took Misty. They remembered their mum waking them up, telling them to go outside and wait for the rest of their non-combative family, before rushing off to wake up their cousin Bisk who was only 3 years older than they were. They remembered seeing some of the shadows of battle as they ran outside and left their family behind. The had stood for what felt like ages waiting for their mum, Uncle Graham and his daughter and Twist’s younger sister, Gist,  Aunt Freya and her children, Bisk and Risk (who was ever inseparable from Gist and had probably snuck into her room that night again) to join them outside and away from the battle. Uncle Graham and Aunt Freya weren’t mages, their cousins were but their family didn’t let anyone under the age of 16 fight._

_But nobody came._

_The house had exploded and Frisk had impulsively run up the mountain in an effort to continue to stay there and guard it. It was their family’s duty to do so._

_And now they were here. All alone._

_Their whole family was dead. They had watched them die. No one had left the house, they would have seen them. There were no secret passages or trick doors, they would have known as the heir (their dad was the oldest of his siblings so he inherited after nanna passed, and Misty left to go become a teacher, so Frisk would have inherited once they were of age). The whole house had exploded with their whole family still inside._

_Their family had been attacked and killed right before their eyes. It may even have been partially caused by their cousin Twist, with his Twisters, the explosion had looked a lot like a fiery tornado. Although, the fire must have been caused by something else as no one in their family had fire powers._

_So._

_Their family had been murdered. Their loving, kind, supportive family. Their family who wished to protect humanity if the monsters escaped. Their family who had learned sign language especially for them. Murdered. Their mum, Uncle Graham, and Aunt Freya didn’t even have magical abilities. They would have had no way to defend themselves. And nanna was pretty old, at 75, over retirement age. Although, she was a pretty fierce fighter And, other than Deist and Twist, their cousins were all still underage, children._

_Those people who had attacked their home had murdered children!_

_Bisk was only 10. Risk and Gist were 14 and 15. They were so young. And they would never get older._

_Frisk felt the knot in their chest tighten and tears pricked at their eyes. They rubbed their arm against them viciously, the soft, warm fabric of their favourite jumper that their mum had helped them put on absorbing the beginnings of tears. No. They couldn’t afford to cry._

_They weren’t alone. Misty had been kidnapped so she hadn’t been in the house. She might still be alive. It was a slim chance but it was a chance that Frisk was willing to take._

_Getting up Frisk finally looked around where they were. The bed of flowers they were laying in were a bed of buttercups and, looking up at the distant hole they must have fallen down to find themselves in the underground cavern, must have broken their fall. It was a bit of miracle because for a fall that far they were barely more than bruised. The area around the bed of flowers was green, but beyond that the dirt was a deep dark granite black. Frisk wondered if it only looked that dark from being so far underground or if it really was black._

_They almost wanted to laugh at the absurdity of the situation they found themselves in._

_Their whole family had been attacked and murdered except for their sister, who might only possibly be alive because she had been_ kidnapped _and now they were stuck in an underground cavern with no foreseeable escape or rescue, because how would anybody know they were stuck down here or even alive. Next thing they were going to actually meet one of these monsters that their family had always gone on about protecting humans against. They lived under the mountain, it was about as likely as everything else that had happened._

_They suppressed the urge. Misty was still alive and they still had a duty to guard this mountain for the humans (even if some humans had killed their family and kidnapped their sister, there were good and bad humans and that’s the way it was). They walked down the dark cavern that was strangely hollowed out like a corridor before passing through what looked like an_ intricately carved archway _?_

_Had they fallen into some ruins of some sort?_

_Next thing they knew they were face to stigma-face with a talking flower. Did they mention it had a face on its stigma? And it talked. Frisk had never heard a voice before but somehow they could hear this creature’s voice. It was high pitched, crackly and dripping with overdone niceties._

_Oh no. Oh no._

_It’s a monster isn’t it? They actually fell into the mountain where the monsters were trapped. They were going to die! Their family had said that monsters weren’t evil but they had been trapped under the mountain for so long that they would likely want revenge against the humans. Frisk is a human._

_“Howdy! I’m Flowey. Flowey the flower!” Oh. OK. They weren’t attacking them. Their voice was grating on their nerves slightly, but maybe that was because they had never heard anything before? Maybe they could friends after all? “Hmmm… You’re new to the Underground, arn’tcha?”_

_They nodded uncertainly. They weren’t sure if they should tell them that but they seemed friendly enough._

_“Golly, you must be so confused,” ‘howdy’, ‘arn’tcha’, ‘golly’ the way they spoke was definitely different from on the surface. Frisk had never heard a voice before but they could read and talk though sign language. People didn’t really say those sorts of words. It made everything feel even more foreign that something as basic as speech inflection was different. “Someone ought to teach you how things work around here! I guess little old me will have to do!”_

_Frisk tilted their head curiously. That would be helpful they supposed._

_“Ready?” For what? “Here we go!”_

_Suddenly, Flowey seemed to take up the entirety of their vision, even though they lost their colour. Out of their chest rose a tiny upright blood red heart. It was the only colourful thing left that could be seen._

_“See that heart? That is your soul, the very culmination of your being!” Frisk had learnt about souls. They had seen their parents’ souls before, their dad had had a bright yellow soul  of justice and their mum had deep forest green of kindness, and Misty had once told them she had a royal purple soul of perseverance. They knew about souls. But they had never seen their soul before because drawing out a child’s soul was dangerous as they could lose control of their magic if that happened. This monster didn’t know they had magic but still they shouldn’t be drawing out their’s unless they wanted to confront them. They shouldn’t be confronting them if they were friendly, but… Was this a confrontation?_

_It was interesting for Frisk to learn that their main character trait was determination. They knew that was rare._

_“Your soul starts off weak, but can grow strong if you gain a lot of LV,” Flowey said in a well-practiced tone. They look slightly bored now._

_Moving around Frisk discovered that there seemed to be some sort of invisible barrier that they couldn’t move beyond._

_“What does LV stand for?” Frisk signed at them in the hope that they could understand them._

_“What’s LV stand for? Why LOVE, of course!” That didn’t make any sense. Love is immeasurable. “You want some LOVE, don’t you?” Frisk wasn’t so sure about this anymore._

_“Don’t worry, I’ll share some with you!” Flowey winked and stuck their tongue out cheekily. A few small white bullets appeared above their head swirling around in anxious movement. That looked like a magic attack to Frisk. They had seen magic attacks before._ Flowey was attacking their vulnerable soul!

_“Down here, LOVE is shared through…” Frisk started panicking. There was in invisible barrier they couldn’t escape through. They just had to try avoiding the attack. Fortunately, their physical strength was pretty decent, and their sight and reaction times were much better than normal, to make up for being unable to hear. They just had to focus on dodging the attack._

_“Little white…’friendliness pellets’,” Flowey looked shifty now, their little black eyes flitting around uncomfortably, if Frisk didn’t know they were lying then that would have keyed them in._

_“Are we ready?” No!_

You should just kill him already, _whispered a voice in an uncaring tone seemingly from inside their head. But it wasn’t their internal voice._

_Frisk decided they had too much to panic about right now and ignored the strange voice from inside their mind. The talking flower_ monster _that was sending a_ magic attack _at their_ soul _was far more urgent._

_“Move around! Get as many as you can!” The attack was aimed at their soul so if they just moved away at the last minute – they jumped to right just before the bullets hit the bright red heart hovering before their chest. They sighed in relief, glad that had worked._

_“Hey buddy, you missed them,” Flowey looked at them through slitted eyes. “Let’s try again, OK?” There must be some way out of this. They looked around again for a solution that they might have missed before. There wasn’t one. Utilising the same tactic as before, they jumped to one side at the last minute and avoided the attack._

_Now Flowey looked really mad. Well, what did he want them to do? Take the attack?_

_“Is this a joke? Are you braindead? RUN. INTO. THE. BULLETS!!!” Well, that just confirmed that he was trying to hurt them. “-friendliness pellets,” he pasted a quick fake grin on his face. They avoided the attack again. Why was there no way out of this?_

_Flowey’s face suddenly changed. His smile became crooked and he rose up above them looking down on them threateningly. Frisk felt fear travel up their spin. Monsters were terrifying creatures._

_“You know what’s going on here, don’t you?” his voice had deepened, crackling and dangerous. “You just wanted to see me suffer.” No! Frisk just wanted him to let them go and stop attacking them!_

_Suddenly a large ring of chalk white bullets surrounded Frisk’s soul. The ruby red heart shivered and shook swishing around in place frantically as Frisk themselves attempted to avoid the slowly closing in attack._

_“_ _Die,_ _” a wide evil grin that took up most of his face spread across Flowey’s stigma-face as he laughed manically._

_There was no escape. They were going to die, being killed by the very being they were supposed to protect humanity from. The first voice they had ever heard would be the last voice they would ever hear as it killed them._

_They thought of their family._

_Their mum with her warm caring hugs and gentle smiles. Their dad with his strong and faithful demeanour. Their nanna with a resilience and strength, as she taught them about magic sharing her enthusiasm with them. Their Auncle Tamarisk who had helped them with their gender confusion with patience and compassion. Their Aunt Freya who often smiled at the antics of the younger family and sang sweet lullabies when they were sad. Stiff and upright Aunt Whisk who was always cooking, cleaning and telling somebody off. Uncle Graham as he laughed at Aunt Whisk’s frustration before shooing the miscreants away and giving her a loving kiss on the cheek. Twist’s patience and love. Deist’s cheerful and constant reassurance. Risk and Gist, the ever cheeky inseparable troublemakers, who could make anyone smile. Bisk’s comradery as she too understood what it was like being the youngest in their large family, her patience when she played with her three years junior cousin._

_Frisk would be with them soon._

_Then, Misty’s ever present smile of reassurance and love as she read to them every night, as they first learned to sign and read, as she held their hand at grampa’s funeral, as she promised she would visit as often as she could and that they could always call her, as she told them it was OK to be different, as she told them she loved them crossed their mind._

_Frisk didn’t want to die here! They had to escape somehow and be there when the police finally found her! Because they would. Misty had always been there for them, even when she was far away. Frisk had to stay true to her even as things looked bleak!_

_Suddenly, a lone fire ball swung into Flowey and threw him to one side. Before them walked another monster who towered over them. They looked a lot like a goat, except with paws instead of hooves. Their horns look fairly short so Frisk wondered if they might be female. They were wearing a long robe with the same emblem from above the mysterious archway from earlier upon it but no shoes on their back paws._

_“What a terrible creature, torturing such a poor innocent youth…” Frisk could hear their voice too! It was utterly different to that of Flowey’s, their voice pitched much lower and seemed to reverberate through the very ground. It was soft as snow, and sweet as pie. Frisk wanted to like then but Flowey had acted nice at first too before he had tried to kill them._

_“Ah, do not be afraid, my child. I am Toriel, caretaker of the ruins.”_

* * *

 

Frisk was sat in the room they shared with Esme, Annabell and Leonie (“I know you’re not a girl, Frisk, but you have ‘girl-parts’ so I’d feel much better if you shared with the girls. Does that make sense?” Ms. Ferguson had said to Frisk in a brisk but not unkind tone. She clearly didn’t understand Frisk’s gender but she was at least trying to be accommodating to it. Frisk kind of liked her business-like manner. She reminded Frisk of their Aunt Whisk.) reading a children’s book by their favourite author. There were so many dramatic unbelievable changes happening in their life they really needed this quiet time of normality even if all it was was reading an old favourite. It wasn’t the same copy that they had read before. This one was old and careworn with well-read edges, dog-eared corners, scribbles along the outside, and written commentary by other children between lines. The copy Frisk had read had been a Christmas gift to them two years ago from Deist. It had been brand new with clean pages and that special new book smell.

 

But it was gone, just like so many other things they loved. At least they could still read the story even if from a different book.

 

A tap on their shoulder caused them to look up.

 

“Frisk,” said Ms. Ferguson. “Would you come with me to my office, there’s someone here to see you with Mrs. Taylor?” Frisk wondered who it could be. Certain monsters had started to be allowed to leave Mount. Ebott recently with clear reason and an escort, but it seemed unlikely that it was one of their friends or family. Not that they doubted they would come get them, just not yet. They nodded in acquisition anyway.

 

* * *

 

_Frisk opened their eyes to find themselves in darkness. Were they alive or was this death? They had just had a confrontation with Napstablook the ghost monster and died, his tears fell too fast for them to avoid them all. They had watched their soul break in two and felt themselves die. And yet, here they were._

_All around them was an endless darkness. No light. No substance. Where were they?_

_Frisk didn’t want to be dead. They had to reach the surface and be there for when Misty was rescued. They couldn’t die. Then she would have no one left. It would break her. Frisk wanted to live. Frisk was determined to live._

_From deep inside them they felt some form of energy collect together into a tight knot. It felt like the wispy but electric touch of magic but reverberating from within them. Frisk knew they had magic, they were from a family of mages, but they had never used magic before. Magic usually didn’t become usable in a mage until adolescence._

_I want to_ Continue _forwards. I want to…_ Load _?_

_That word had power and meaning to their magic. It pulled out from within them and surrounded them. It continued spreading, exploding from their body, before pulling back inwards suddenly slamming into their body._

_Frisk stumbled slightly from the sudden influx of magic into their core. They could feel it now within them, their magical core. It was ever buzzing beneath their fingertips ready for them to use. They had used magic! Misty would be so proud of them._

_Glancing around they found themselves back facing the cheese and mousehole, just a hallway down from where Napstablook had killed them. They remembered when they had looked at the cheese and thought of how against all odds the mouse would eat the cheese and they had felt determined. The thought of the underdog winning against all the odds gave them strength and the will to win over all obstacles._

_So, what exactly had their magic done? They wondered. Had it just brought them back to life to a safe spot or something different?_

_Turning a_ _way from the cheese, Frisk walked back down the deep purple corridor and before them they saw Napstablook sleeping on the leaves as if their earlier confrontation had never occurred. He was saying ‘Z’ over and over again too. It was strange._

_Taking a determined breathe Frisk pushed Napstablook gently. He rose up before them as he confronted them. They gulped. They could do this._

_They checked him first. The voice in their mind told them the same information as before._

_“Oh, I’m REAL funny,” Napstablook said in his ghostly tone exactly the same as before. Everything was the same as before. His cried attack landed the same as before._

Napstablook is wishing they weren’t here, _said the voice in their head snidely. That was the same too._

_Had they… They had turned back in time, hadn’t they? They couldn’t be sure yet but it made sense._

_Time-travel, that was a scary power. Frisk was a bit scared of what that could do._

_But then they thought of their family only hours dead. What if… what if there was some way they could travel back to before all of that happened? Warn them and get everyone out of the house and to safety before they were even attacked. They had to try. If there was any way, any possibility, then they had to try._

_They focused back in on the confrontation. They would worry about this later when they weren’t in the middle of dodging random attacks. They didn’t like dying and would like to avoid doing it as much as possible._

 

* * *

 

Frisk cautiously entered Ms. Ferguson’s office after the lady herself strode in and seated herself in her desk chair decisively. A swirling mixture of curiosity and anxiety was dancing around in Frisk’s gut as they slipped through the scratched up cherry wood door and seated themselves in a rickety wooden seat, strategically placing Carol between them and the strange man sat by the window.

 

Frisk looked to Carol for direction, curious as to whom the stranger was. Was he someone from the police asking about the monsters? Another social worker? Maybe he was from a foster family that wanted to take them in?

 

“Hello, Frisk,” signed Carol at them with an encouraging smile. “How are you doing?”

 

“Alright,” Frisk shrugged as they signed in reply. “The other children here are nice enough. It’s always nice making new friends…” Frisk trailed off thinking of how much fun it had been making friends with the monsters. They missed their friends dearly but often tried not to think of it. They just kept reminding themselves that this situation was only temporary, eventually either Toriel would come for them and adopt them, or Misty would be found and would surely let them visit their friends, whichever came first.

 

“That’s good. I’m glad that you’ve been making friends. Today we have another new friend here for you to meet,” Carol indicated towards the man sat by the window staring out at the overcast sky, clearly disinterested in the happenings inside the office.

 

The man was tanned, but not in a way that was hereditary like Frisk’s cousins had been, his skin was tanned as if he was used to living in a warm tropical country. Frisk noticed that even though he had tanned skin his hands were smooth and callous-free, with exception to the typical writing callouses most everyone develops on their stronger hand’s middle finger. He had deep brown hair that was slicked back away from his face, with thick, stark, almost-black eyebrows that hung over his black as charcoal eyes. He wore a striped granite grey button down, with golden cufflinks that caught the light, ironed black trousers and polished black shoes.

 

But, most significantly, Frisk could feel the wispy tendrils of magic dripping off of this man even as he sat on the opposite side of the room as Frisk. That didn’t sit right with Frisk at all.

 

The Ebott family was the last remaining family of mages in the UK, which indicated that as a mage this man, with his sun-kissed skin and clear riches, was definitely not from the UK. Why was he here? He had no business in the UK as it was the Ebott family’s territory and with Frisk still very much alive, even as a child, he had no right to be here without express permission.

 

Many years ago, the UK had been a hub of mage activity, full to the brim with mage families, but after the war with the monsters it had been decided that too many mages in one place was dangerous and the mage families had spread themselves far and wide throughout the world. Back then the Ebott family had consisted solely of two brothers; it had been a family of magical potential not size.

 

Many generations later, the descendants of one of the original brothers had eventually moved away from the UK after some massive disagreement with the main house, with express emphasis on not returning until at least 6 generations had passed. Frisk’s nanna had told them that story explaining that it had happened during her parents’ generation, so 6 generations had clearly not yet passed.  

 

If this man was a distant cousin of Frisk’s, related to them through their great-grandparents, then he was not supposed to be here, not for two more generations at least.

 

Fortunately, Frisk had always been taught how to suppress their magical aura by their family, it was taught to them as a cautionary measure because the monsters could sense magical auras. Frisk thought it had likely made their journey in the Underground somewhat easier because if the monsters had realised that they were a mage then it would have made befriending them much more challenging. It was highly possible that the man knew Frisk was a mage-to-be, but didn’t know that their powers had already unlocked from the high density of magic in the Underground. Frisk planned to keep it that way.

 

Despite their running thoughts Frisk made sure to keep their expression neutral. They didn’t know the situation yet, so it was best to keep their opinions close to their chest.

 

“Yiorgos Masalis,” Carol spelled out carefully watching Frisk’s face as it scrunched up in confusion. She repeated the spelling once more before continuing on. “Is your 2nd cousin 1 time removed. That means your great-great-grandparents are his great-grandparents. His family moved to Cyprus in his grandparents’ time. But when he heard that you were over here in an orphanage with no family, Yiorgos rushed over to take you in.”

 

Carol saw Frisk’s eyebrows furrow slightly in consternation and rushed to reassure them. They acted so mature she had to remind herself that they were only seven. “I know that there is a possibility that your sister will be found, but until that time we think it would be best if you stayed with your cousin. He’s bought a nice little two bedroom house in Aberdeen, it’s got a garden and there are other children living on the same road. We just think it would be better for you to be staying with your family, even if you’ve never met before. He clearly cares enough about you to come all the way over to the UK from Cyprus. He didn’t have to do that.”

 

Frisk didn’t say anything. They had learned in their time in the Underground that silence was often the wisest choice when there was no clearly right answer.

 

Carol sighed, she could tell Frisk wasn’t happy about this arrangement. She honestly didn’t blame them.

 

Finally, Yiorgos turned to face Frisk with his empty obsidian black eyes. “I know you don’t know me, child, as I do not know you. But my own family have all misfortunately perished as well. I imagine we are all that remains of the long and industrious line of Ebott. Family must stick together.” Yiorgos’ face remained impassive as he spoke, regardless that he spoke of the death of both their families. It was as if Frisk was staring at an ice sculpture, his face and eyes were expressionless and uncaring.

 

“As of tomorrow morning, you’ll be moving in with Yiorgos. Doesn’t that sound nice?”

 

* * *

 

_Frisk stared at the sun rise over the sea in the distance as they stood alone outside the exit to the Underground. They had almost forgotten what the sun felt like on their skin and how biting cold but comforting the fresh autumn air could be as it rustled their shoulder length hair._

_They had managed it. They had escaped from the Underground. Although, ‘escaped’ didn’t feel like quite the right word as they had felt so free and loved down there by many of the monsters. They would miss their monster friends._

_They also regretted how they had killed a few of them in fright, not realising that the majority of the monsters were friendly and that they could come back after death anyway. But it was done and over with, they couldn’t change it now._

_They were on the surface again now ready for when Misty would be found by the police. That was what mattered._

_Frisk sighed. They had discovered while Underground, that they had time-travel magic but they had found it highly restricted. When they went back in time it was always to the most recent spot in which they had felt the largest surge of determination fill their soul. They had tried and tried to go back to before then but simply couldn’t._

_They had time-travel magic but no matter how hard they tried they couldn’t travel further back than their most recent SAVE! They couldn’t travel back to before their family had been attacked!_

_They couldn’t save them._

_Frisk felt tears swell up in the corners of their eyes and they coughed in an effort to suppress them. Their shoulders shook as they gasped breathes of cold air. They could see the charred remains of their family home in the distance._

_When Frisk had initially discovered their magical ability they had felt so sure that they could save their family. They could die and go back to before it had happened, but they couldn’t go back further than they last felt determined. They felt so frustrated at their own magic’s restrictions. It didn’t make sense. They had the power to rise from the dead but not to go further back in time?_

_Frisk wanted to scream in anger and frustration. They wanted to hit something, anything. There was a dark and disgusting part of them that wanted someone to feel the anguish and pain they were feeling whipping around in their chest._

_They had failed their family._

_All of a sudden something changed from with them; something unlocked and Frisk felt as if chains suddenly fell away from their shoulders. The magical core within them expanded and contracted as if sighing a breath of contentment._

_Frisk wanted to go further back and their magic itself responded to that soul deep desire. Another word of power slipped itself into Frisk’s mind. It shivered and shook as if even as a simple thought it was a wild animal that was difficult to contain._

_RESET._

_How far back using that word of power would take Frisk, they weren’t sure, but their magic assured them that it could take them back further, much further. Their magic danced around them in tiny hopeful circles as it almost seemed to beg for them to use it. Frisk wanted to go further back and their magic promised it could take them further back._

_It might not take them back far enough or it might take them back too far. If they ended back Underground, they would lose all the progress they had made and would need to escape_ again _._

_But…_

_But there was a possibility that it might take them far enough back to save their family._

_Frisk clasped the magic between their fingers in a determined grasp, pulling their magic out from within them and willing themselves to go back. To RESET._

_They had to try._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> James is N. Irish and Scottish Heritage,  
> Annabell is English and Scottish Heritage,  
> Esme is French and Scottish Heritage,  
> Eryk is Polish Heritage,  
> Wei is Chinese and Welsh Heritage,  
> Thomas is African Heritage,  
> Ryan is Scottish Heritage (older alongside Leonie),  
> Leonie is German and Scottish Heritage (older alongside Ryan).  
> \- But to clarify they are all British Nationals, born in the UK.


	7. Sans - Time is a Tricky Business

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans speaks to the police about helping with the search for Misty, and he and Papyrus have a much needed, long overdue talk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to Macmackerel for motivating me to write by reviewing.
> 
> Reviews motivate me so please do review if like this story! I keep feeling as if nobody really likes this story when I love it.

“So,” said Sans casually, leaning his forearms against the edge of the temporary fence that had been swiftly erected. The young policeman on the other side turned to side eye him. “I’ve been thinking real hard about this. Frisk’s older sister, Mist Ebott, is missing, right?” Hesitantly, he nodded. “And then, a couple of months later, their family’s home is attacked and the whole family murdered… Have you considered that maybe these two events might have been connected?”

“Not my case, sorry, sir. I’m the wrong person to ask,” replied the policeman stiffly.

“Hm. Ok, yeah, I get you. Sorry to bother you,” Sans stood up straight and crossed his arms. “But then who is the right person to ask? I’m just thinking, all of us monsters here really care about Frisk, I bet I could find her if you let me. Monsters see things differently, you know? I could see something you guys might miss.”

The man stared at him with his mouth ajar. Sans raised a brow-bone expectantly.

“R-right!” he rushed off, looking like a deer caught in the headlights.

Sans looked up at the mid-morning sky. He doubted he would ever get over how beautiful it was. Then he gazed about at the trees about him. They were different to the ones Underground.

“Sergeant Smith tells me that you’re interested in lending a hand in the Mist Ebott case,” came a gruff voice from directly before him. Sans ripped his eyelights away from admiring the beauty of the Overworld to look at the man before him. Sans didn’t really know much about humans but this one looked older (middle aged, perhaps?) with short afro grey hair and deep set wrinkles around his oak brown eyes, that were just a shade lighter than his skin, eyes that looked weary, as if he had also seen too much of the dark side of life, and yet still hopeful.

“I am,” Sans nodded curtly. “As I told – Sergeant Smith, was it? – us monsters really care about Frisk. I’d like to help you find their sister.”

“I see,” the man nodded thoughtfully. “And how might you be able to contribute to this investigation?”

“Well, it’s hard to explain, but us monsters see and interact with the world differently than you humans do. There’s a possibility I’d see something you’ve missed.” Sans tapped a phalange nervously against a rib. This had to work. It had to.

“Yes, I see. But how might _you_ contribute to this investigation? Why you and not a member of the Royal Guard, who your Queen compared to the police.”

Sans paused a thought carefully how the phrase his next argument. “Well, it’s literally one of my jobs to detect the truth in people. The Royal Guards are all about upholding the law and defending the people, but it’s my job to know things and see the true heart of matters. I’m the Royal Judge. I have to judge people. To do that I have to really know them, you know?”

“If that is the case, then tell me about myself. What can you tell about me?” The man looked him up and down, a glint of doubt in his eyes. Sans supposed that his highly casual get up didn’t exactly support his claims.

“Alright, if you like, I can. But, er… just to warn you, my eyes are going to look a bit… unusual for a bit.” Sans grit his teeth anxiously.

The man nodded.

Sans took a breath, then, on its release, gathered his power in his left eye. The world around him darkened, colour fading to greys and blacks, except for the heart shaped colourful souls of the humans and the upside down heart shaped bright white souls of the monsters about them. With some effort he brought his sight in to focus on the soul directly before him.

It was large, adult sized, and bright sunshine yellow with a dark blue glow around the edges.

“You’re a man of justice, always trying to do what is right and good, but you also have a keen sense of integrity,” Sans began. Lifting his hand up he pulled the man’s states up. “Your name is Allen, stats only state your first name, so even though I know you humans use last names too I can’t tell that. You’re strong, have an incredible level of attack, but also have a decent level of defence, and…Oh.”

“Yes?” Allen asked, sounding interested, though Sans couldn’t see his face to tell.

Sans lowered his voice, “You’ve killed three people, but you didn’t do it in cold blood and you regret it.”

A long silence followed his quiet statement. Sans took that as his cue to pull his power back in.

Allen looked solemn, the wrinkles in his face deepened and a serious frown pulled at his lips. “That’s…”

Sans cleared his throat, “I’d assume that you had to do it in your line of duty. I don’t hold it against you.”

He looked at him, his oak brown eyes swirling with a deep and dark misery. “15 years ago there was this serial murderer. He kidnapped women, rapped them and murdered them, dumping their bodies in the sea… We tracked him for 2 years before we finally found him. When we tried to take him in he threatened his hostage’s life… I shot him. I saved her life at the price of his own. He’d killed 12 women, but he was a human being. I killed him to save that woman.”

He sighed heavily.

Sans couldn’t even begin to imagine being in such terrible position. The kid had killed people, sure, but they’d not done anything to them before. They’d made it quick and painless. And yet they, just like that man, was still a life. It certainly made him think.

“6 years ago there were these men threatening to bomb a school, kill all of the little kids inside of it, unless we paid them 100 million pounds and let them go. We paid them the money but when they tried to escape they took 3 children with them. They were only kids, only 5, 6 and 8 years old. They were siblings and their family was rich, probably why they took them. We shot them down before they could get away. I got one of them.”

A school, full of children… Sans felt his soul sink. Human could do terrible things.

“And last year… Last year there was this woman threatening people in a bank. She was a young woman, lost and confused. Got herself addicted to drugs and in debt. One of the hostages tried to take the gun off of her, they fought and the hostage was shot. Died. After that hostage died, she went off the deep end and started shooting all over the place, not really aiming. I shot her before she could end up killing anyone else…”

Killing in desperation, humans could do that too. He knew that already.

“Every night, I think over what I could have done. How I could have saved those people. The serial killer. The school bombers. The bank robber. They were all people. In these situations it’s my job to save as many lives as I can. But I couldn’t save them…”

“You’re just one man,” Sans said, feeling oddly like he was in the Last Corridor and passing judgement over someone. Allen smiled ruefully, as if he had heard those words many times. “You can’t do everything. All of those situations were really serious. Extraneous circumstances. And for every time you’ve lost a life, you’ve saved one – or more than one. You been given hard choices and you made them. What you really have to think about is, of the choices I had at the time, did I make the one I can live with the easiest?”

“Hm…” he sighed again, before straightening up. “Well, you’ve certainly convinced me. I don’t get how you could ‘see’ that exactly, but maybe you’ll see more things that we humans can’t. It’s pretty incredible how you saw all that stuff, really.” He gave him an intense look.

“If it’s any comfort, most monsters can’t see the stats necessary to see if someone’s killed someone or not,” Sans offered, feeling distinctly awkward.

He nodded, “I guess that’s why you’re the Royal Judge and they’re not, then.”

“Right,” he shrugged.

He cleared his throat. “Well, anyway. I’ll have to check with the Chief Superintendent… Might have to go higher than that actually. And then we’ll have to corroborate with the Edinburgh police, have to get Police Constable Hughes on that – you’ve met him, he was one of the two who found you. It may take some time but… I think you’re exactly what this investigation needs. A new perspective.”

“Thanks,” Sans said, grinning wide. Success making his soul jump for joy.

“The name is Chief Inspector Allen Wells, I’m the highest ranking policeman here.”

“Ah, well, I’m Sans the Skeleton, skeleton monster that is, heh, no bones about it. We don’t really have last names, but the tall skeleton, Papyrus, is my little brother. I’m the Royal Judge, a Royal Guard Outpost Outlooker, a hotcat stall vendor. I… er… I also used to be a scientist for a bit too. Worked with the old one, before Alphys. He had bit of an accident and very few people remember him anymore because of it, science-y stuff, you know? And I’m also a renowned Comedian, some people even call me Comic Sans, heh.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Sans,” Allen smiled, his eyes softening at the edges.

“Right back you, Allen.”

 

* * *

 

“Sans?!” Papyrus crystal clear voice broke through Sans’ contemplative musings.

“Yeah, bro?” Sans responded, not really paying attention.

“I was wondering if I could have a word with you. In private.” Sans turned to look at his brother. Papyrus was wringing his hands anxiously, sweat beading on his brow.

Sans’ smile fell to a tiny shadow of its normal self. “Sure, bro. Where did you want to go?”

“This way!” Papyrus replied striding off. Sans followed behind him as he walked through the trees around the mountain, away from the others. “Ah, what a beautiful view! And this tree makes a brilliant seat! This is the perfect place!” He sat down with poise on a dead tree that lay across the ground, staring out at the setting sun. Sans slumped down next to him.

“What’s up, bro? Other than the sky, I mean, heh,” Sans asked tentatively, feeling thrown by this unusually quiet(er) version of his brother.

“You asked the human police to join the investigation to find Frisk’s sister today, didn’t you?” Papyrus asked seriously.

“Yeah. Thought I could help them find her. I’m lazy, but not stupid. And I notice stuff, you know?” Sans replied, the odd need to justify himself brimming within him.

Papyrus was silent for moment, looking out that fiery sky. His snow white bones shone orange and red in reflection of the setting sun.

“No, Sans. No, I don’t know,” Papyrus said, leaning forward and resting his elbows in his knees.

“… Oh, yeah. I forget sometimes.” Sans sighed. It was hard, remembering what his brother no longer knew. With all the resets and stuff on top of that, it was inevitable really that he’d mess up some time.

Papyrus turned to look at him. “What do you forget exactly, brother?”

Sans looked at him, the heavy weight of knowledge dragging him down. All it had ever down was make him miserable. He’d done his best to protect his brother, keeping the knowledge from him once he realised he’d forgotten, to keep him happy. But, looking at his brother now, he realised that if he continued to keep his secrets, all it would do was hurt his brother. Papyrus would know that he was keeping thing from him. He was more observant than most people ever gave him credit for, he just hadn’t honed the ability as Sans had.

“The things that you don’t remember. I forget sometimes, that you’ve forgotten them.” Sans looked down at the grass and heather beneath his feet and the mud caked around the edges of his fluffy pink slippers.

“I have forgotten things?” Papyrus turned to stare at him, horrified at thought. “But how can that be? I have an excellent memory!”

“You’re not the only one who’s forgotten stuff actually. Everybody has. Well, almost everybody. I mean, Asgore remembers, though Tori doesn’t seem to (Maybe because they broke up?), because there is some kind of magic on the royal family that protects them from stuff like what happened.”

“But, then…” Papyrus paused thoughtfully. “Why do you remember and I don’t? What _exactly_ happened?”

Sans was silent. Talking about his past was… hard.

“Sans?”

Sans sighed.

“Well… you see… When I was your age, I was a scientist. Assistant to the Royal Scientist, the one before Alphys. Truthfully, I’m probably way more experienced and qualified for the position than she is but, heh, don’t tell her I said that.”

“A scientist! Incredible! I knew you were clever but I never realised you were also able to apply it!”

Sans huffed a laugh. “Yeah, bro. I was a scientist.”

Papyrus laughed gleefully. “It suits you. You’re smart and like to discover things… I’m glad I know now.”

“Yeah, it was great. I loved it. Honestly, Paps, I was so different back then. Motivated, driven, passionate… But, really, the best part was … was… was being able to work alongside our old man.”

“Our… dad? We had a dad?” Papyrus’ voice shook with shock.

Sans’ shoulder’s slumped under weight of his melancholy. Papyrus ran a gentle hand along his back. “Yeah, we did. Our dad was the Royal Scientist. His name was Gaster and he spoke using a sign language he called Wing Dings, so people often called him W. D. Gaster.”

“Another font name,” Papyrus mumbled.

“Yeah. He wasn’t exactly the best dad or person, nowhere near as great as you are, of course, but he loved us and every monster in the Underground, you know? In many ways, I really admired him. He was so intelligent and driven. And the scientific leaps and bounds he made in his time were literally incredible. In fact, in a way, he was kind of like the sun,” he gestured at the great burning star before them. “Beautiful, mesmerising, absolutely breath taking when at work, but stare too long and you go blind and get too close and you get burned – the sun is 5,505 °C, you know?”

“Hm… But, as well as being his son, you worked alongside him. So, I’d assume you spent a lot of time being close to him.”

“Yeah. He started me on the science stuff early, you know, as soon as he realised I understood it. He had really high expectations of me… Looking back on it now I realise that they were impossibly high. I could never have reached them, but I didn’t realise that at the time. It always knocked my confidence, you know? Every time I wasn’t quite good enough, fast enough, ingenuitive enough, he used tear me down with his sharp tongue – or hands, heh. Sometimes it was only my love for science that kept me going. But, then…”

“Then?”

“Asgore, started us on this project. The same one that Alphys was studying, actually. We were tasked to find a way out of the Underground using science instead of souls. Heh. Great idea, in theory. Shame it never worked… Anyway, so I studied humans as thoroughly as I could, and Gaster, well, he looked into the souls. He was thinking of engineering a fake one, but then he came across a text that told us about the red human soul’s singular ability.”

“Like Frisk’s!” Papyrus exclaimed excitedly.

“Yeah, heh. Exactly like Frisk’s… You see, this text told us that sometimes humans had abilities and what they were depended on their soul. There was more than one possible ability for each soul, except the red soul, that soul only has one ability. You know that there are 8 types of human souls, right?”

“Hm. Yes, I remember reading that somewhere. Humans display their core personality traits through their souls when we do it through our magic.”

“That’s right. It’s like your magic is light blue, for patience, for your minor attacks and orange, for bravery, for your special attack (though, I think it’s strange you don’t have any green, to be honest), and mine is dark blue, for integrity, and yellow, for justice.”

“Indeed. As to your comment on that I do not have any green in my soul, I have always tried my absolute best to be full of integrity and justice myself, which ties closely into kindness really, even though they are not my core traits, because they are yours. I have always felt that if they are important to you then they should be important to me as well,” Papyrus explained, with a fond tone.

“Huh,” Sans looked at Papyrus in surprise. Papyrus gazed back him with a soft expression. “I didn’t know that.”

“I guess there is a lot that we don’t know about each other really. I am beginning to think that this talk is long overdue.”

“Yeah, heh. It’s funny really. I never forgot anything, but there’s still stuff I don’t know about you anyway.”

“It’s easy to miss things when you have a lot going on yourself. Do not worry about it, brother. We can catch up with one another now.”

“Hm, yeah, you’re right.”

“Of course I am! Now don’t get side tracked, tell me what happened with this project,” Papyrus admonished.

“Heh, OK. Well, basically, Gaster discovered that the red soul could go back in time using what is called saving, loading and resetting.”

“Saving, loading and resetting… And how does that work?”

“… You really want to know?” Sans asked, feeling hesitant.

“Of course, I do!”

“You sure, bro?”

Papyrus gave him a look. “Is there any reason why I should consider not knowing?”

“… Knowing this stuff, it can change your perspective on, well, everything really.”

“Whilst I appreciate the warning and concern, brother, I still wish to know.”

“Alright, then…As far as I understood it, saving is when they Save a time that they are in so that later on they can go back to that saved time by loading. They can only Load to their most recent Save, though, so they have to be careful about when they Save.”

“I see… And what is resetting?”

“Resetting is different to saving and loading. It’s when there is this fixed point in time that they can’t change or choose that they can reset time to, which can be much further back in time than their Save. Each reset is called a timeline.”

Papyrus was quiet for a long moment, gazing down at his bright red gloves. “Do you think Frisk can do these things?”

“…”

“Sans?”

“Anyway!” Sans coughed awkwardly, Papyrus gave him a considering look. “When Gaster discovered this he was suddenly caught with the idea of time travel. He thought that maybe he could travel back in time to before the barrier was erected and then find a way to stop it from being created or destroy it from the other side.”

“That’s a very roundabout way of thinking of things. Very clever but… Hm.”

“Yeah, that’s what you said back then too. Heh. Gaster didn’t take it well. Chewed you out really bad for it.”

“Did I? Interesting!” Papyrus locked his phalanges together thoughtfully.

“I suppose,” Sans shrugged.

“Am I different from how I was back then? Or very similar?”

“It was 5 years ago, Pap. Of course, you’re different.” Sans ran one phalange along the bark of the tree they sat on. The sky had turned to a deep purple with a line of red fading into pink near the horizon before it changed to a navy blue.

“But are there any parts of me that are different because of my forgetting?”

“Well, you forgot all about anything to do with our dad and, really, that was quite a lot of time you forgot… You’re more like you were before forgetting now, but more hopeful and less serious, I guess.”

“So…” Papyrus stared at the horizon. “I am reading between the lines here, a skill I have honed from my many years of living with you, Mr Never-Says-What-He-Really-Means, I regressed, in a way. I lost many of my memories, years of my life, so I became… perhaps, like… a younger version of myself?”

“…Sort of, yeah. But,” Sans turned his about to face Papyrus, looking at him adamant about his words, “You never became any less than you were. Not a bit. Still the best bro ever. Brilliant, brave and kind. You lost some wisdom, perhaps, which is something people generally gain through experience, and caution too, I suppose. Without the memories of Gaster suddenly snapping at you for one wrong word, you became more adventurous and confident. Much happier too, to be honest. It’s kind of why I never told. You were just… So… happy.”

“I see. So, I am different.”

“… I have loved every version of you. Before you forgot. After you forgot. Now. And every moment in between. Because you are, and always have been, my brother, Papyrus. And that’s all that really matters.”

Papyrus wrapped an arm around Sans’ shoulders. “Thank you, brother.”

“Eh, nothing but the truth, bro.”

“So, what happened with this time travel plan of his?”

“Well, Gaster, he got really stuck in it. Tried lots of things,” Sans fiddled with the zip of his jacket. “Took stuff out of the human souls we had to do it. I helped him every step of the way. But with every failed attempt he became angrier, but more determined. Crazed in a way, the way he was obsessing over it. He forgot to eat, sleep or do much of anything else. In the end, I could barely understand the stuff he was writing in his plans, they were so nonsensical. But, eventually, he thought that he had it and he had had enough of tests and practice runs. He proclaimed it a success and decided that he would use it. He was sure that it would work. I… I tried to talk him out of it. Had a really bad feeling about it. But…”

“I am sure that you did, brother. But Gaster sounds the sort to not be easily talked out of something. It is not your fault.” Papyrus’ hand was a reassuring weight on his shoulder.

“Yeah, he didn’t listen to me. He went and stepped into it, turning it on the inside. It took only a bare few seconds for it to be extremely obvious that there was something wrong. I… I told him to get out but he... He didn’t move. Was still as a statue, still in the same positon he’d been when he pressed the button. I ran to open the door to get him out of there but as I got closer… It was like my bones felt heavier and were harder to more until I was finally made of stone and couldn’t move.”

“That’s very strange,” Papyrus observed, breaking the moment to Sans’ relief.

“Hm, yeah. It’s dangerous stuff to mess with time, you know.” Sans leaned his head back against Papyrus’ arm, feeling the soft material covering his brother’s bones against the back of his head.

“So, what happened to Gaster then?”

“Well… It’s kind of hard to explain. It was like the machine was phasing in and out of existence, and moving further back every time. He’d built it by the Core, you see. Connected it to it, actually, as a power source. And, as it kept on phasing further and further backwards… It eventually just phased inside of the Core… At least, that’s what I think happened. It disappeared and then next thing I know I saw a small part of it appear just outside of the Core, break off and fall down.”

“Inside of _the Core_!”

“Yeah. And straight after that happened, I found I could move again too. I went straight to Asgore about it, told him what happened… But, on the way there I quickly realised that people had forgotten about Gaster, and by extension had mostly forgotten about us too. And when I told Asgore that nobody seemed to be able to remember him, he decided it was best to not panic anybody by mentioning Gaster’s disappearance.”

“Wow. Our dad fell inside of the Core and then everybody forgot about him, except you and the Royal family.”

“Yeah, well, I think I remember because I was really close to it when it happened. It kind of affected me too when it happened, slowed time around me down then stopped it entirely. Had the unexpected side effect of time anomalies not really affecting me anymore. I always remember, no matter who or what messes with time. Nobody else ever does really… Anyway, after that happened, I looked into Gaster’s notes to try and bring him back. I tried for 3 whole years. But… I eventually realised that it simply wasn’t possible. As far as I could gather, he’s managed to spread himself across time and space. So, he’s everywhere and nowhere.”

“That’s terrible,” Papyrus said, sadness slowing and lowering the tone of his words. “Our dad is spread across time and space and you saw it happen and were unable to stop it or bring him back, despite being very clever and working on for 3 years straight. Huh… No wonder you’re so lazy all the time...

“You’re sad and can’t motivate yourself to really do anything because the one thing you loved doing stole our dad away and you were unable to do anything about it. And your own brother doesn’t remember and changed suddenly on top of that. It must have been hard.”

Sans was struck silent by Papyrus’ on-point assessment.

He cleared his throat nervously.

“Yeah, well, anyway. Long before Frisk ever fell down something was messing with time. This weird not-monster flower called Flowey –”

“My friend Flowey the Flower?”

“Maybe. Only he wasn’t anybody’s friend. He messed with time, messed with people… killed people then went back in time so they were alive again and kill them again. He did that over and over… It was awful.” But the stuff with Frisk had been _worse_ was what he didn’t say.

“… Flowey really did that?” Papyrus questioned, shocked.

“Yeah, the Flowey I knew really did. I – I’m sorry, bro.”

Papyrus shook his head. “Don’t apologise when you’ve not done anything wrong.”

Sans’ smile filled with warmth. “Thanks, bro. But, yeah. So, after that started happening, Asgore decided to make me the Royal Judge, because I always remembered what happened in every timeline. And I can see every detail of people’s stats too.”

“You can even see people’s LOVE?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh. That’s a terrible thing to be able to see. I’m so sorry, brother,” Papyrus softly rested his head on his brother’s.

“S’OK, bro. I’m used to it. Nowadays I usually only see it if I want to.”

“Hm.”

They stared out at the dark navy sky, admiring the bright pinpricks of light spread out across it and the gentle light of the half-moon that so perfect looked as if a giant had stood up tall placed them all there. It was the most beautiful either of them had ever seen.

“Thank you for telling me, brother.”

“Welcome.”

“And, I may not remember all of my life, brother, but I am most certain that I have loved every version of you also. Before, after, now and every moment in between.”


End file.
